The Hunt for the Dragonborn (rewrite of Shadow of the Dragonborn)
by Dragon1205
Summary: About 20 years after the events of Skyrim, the Second Great War continues with no end in sight. With the Thalmor completely annihilating all opposition, we follow our hero. Ahmes, who joins the Hunt, a mysterious journey that is said to be unsurvivable. Join Ahmes as he partakes in the Hunt and begins his journey to find the Last Dragonborn. (I suck at Summaries).


**So, I originally was going to write the Shadow of the Dragonborn by each chapter, but there are some changes I made to the original material I wrote that I wasnt a big fan of. So, I decided to just publish the original content all at once instead of per chapter due to laziness and some things I would like to change back. For example, in Shadow of the Dragonborn, the antagonist is called the Shadow and he is wrote kinda like he works for the Thalmor (kinda). But that isnt what he is originally supposed to be like, even in the other version of this story, he doesnt work for the Thalmor, but in the other version the Shadow felt like that to me when I looked at it again. So this is version I am gonna publish so that someone can either read it and hopefully want to pick up the idea and to not waste time of the Shadow of the Dragonborn version. So, one thing I want to make perfectly clear is that this is the original version of Shadow of the Dragonborn, but it is called Hunt for the Dragonborn. Also, if you notice that this one big chapter is separated into one big chapter, that was because my original intent was to post these chapters seperately as Shadow of the Dragonborn, but like I said before I learned to like this version somewhat better and I'm lazy :D. Also remember that I dont intend to finish this story, but if you want to know how the story is supposed to end, please read the spoilers at the end. Please enjoy.**

 **Warning: I make this story dark on purpose and this can trigger someone. If you are triggered easily, Dont read this.**

 **Disclaimer: I dont own Skyrim, please support Bethesda.**

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Chapter 1

The sky was covered by dark clouds as rain fell harshly onto the cold earth below. No sunlight broke through and the land was covered by darkness. Even though it was daytime, the blacken sky could be mistaken as night. The smell of death perfumed the air and enflamed the nostrils of those who dared take a good sniff. The sounds of the wagon broke Ahmes from his trance. He looked around frantically, forgetting where he was for a moment. Ahmes heard the man from his right cough and shudder from the cold before attempting to hide himself in his blanket for warmth. Ahmes could start to smell the copper smell of blood even with the rain's attempt to blind his senses. Ahmes could tell they were close, as the wagons were starting to slow down. In front were various men atop different types of horses. Some born for battle, others, to work in the fields. "Hey kid, don't suppose you gotta match on ya?" The old man sitting across Ahmes asked in a rough voice. Ahmes shook his head as the older man cursed his luck before turning back to Ahmes. "So what ya here for kid," The old man asked, leaning forward in interest, causing a loud creak to echo throughout the wagon. Ahmes shook his head as the old man's eyebrow rose and his face became written with confusion and slight frustration. For weeks the old man had been trying to get Ahmes to talk, but Ahmes had never been the talking type of person. He just found talking to always end up him saying something stupid and embarrassing, and found social interaction to almost become a chore. He had trouble making friends growing up, and would often be made fun of for his shyness. "Do you remember why you're here?" the old man asked with a small smirk. Ahmes shook his head again and lied. "Is that all you do? Shake your head?" the old man asked. Ahmes looked up in thought for a moment and shook his head again. The old man laughed heartily, Ahmes smirked along and eventually made a small chuckle as the old man continued to roar with laughter. Ahmes was happy to see someone laugh even in this rotten landscape. Ahmes was a young man, turning 18 a mere month ago. His hair was black and messy spreading out wildly atop his head, covering his pale blue eyes. Ahmes had been sitting in this wagon for about a week now, and he would usually get lost in his own little world to pass the time. A few weeks ago, he set out on his own adventure after soldiers from the empire came to his home town and asked for any volunteers for the annul Hunt. Ahmes, seeking out adventure was one of the very few who volunteered. His mother was completely against it, everyone knew that those who left for the Hunt almost never returned. Ahmes' father volunteered for the Hunt a few years back, telling Ahmes to look after his mother, and that he would be back soon. Ahmes knew now that that was the first lie his father ever told him. Ahmes still till this day couldn't reason as to why his old man went out for the Hunt in the first place, maybe it was to help with the cause, or maybe it was because a friend of his was going too. Ahmes didn't know, he could only speculate. Those who partook in the Hunt were almost never veteran soldiers. Soldiers of the Empire stopped volunteering for the Hunt long ago when they realized it was a lost cause. Now, only criminals and a very few amount of volunteers took part in the Hunt. Every so often, a foolish noble would take part in the Hunt only to die like the rest and return in a body bag, if at all. When Ahmes first decided to go on the Hunt, he thought of it as a big adventure, the boy believed that he would be the one of the few to survive the Hunt and make his mark on the world, bragging away to the other boys in his village. Half way through the journey, he realized just how foolish that naïve dream was. No one came out the Hunt alive for a reason, he thought. He didn't know what in particular made the Hunt so dangerous, but whatever it was, it was dangerous enough to make the Hunt a nightmare that was told to children when they misbehaved. He had heard rumors that some did survive the Hunt, and tell stories to the people of the danger, but rumors were all they were meant to be and some never took them seriously. The wagon made a complete stop, as word spread to the men that they were going to make the rest of the journey on foot. The soldiers and criminals hopped off the wagon and collected their weapons and little armor they had, many grunting and cursing on the way down. The walk to the final stretch of the journey was going to last for a few hours, which made Ahmes internally groan and swear. The groups started to line up like an unorganized army and walked forward with three veteran soldiers atop armored horses leading the way. Each veteran faked bravery and their dirty armor hiding their shaking bodies. Ahmes noticed a man squeezing an amulet of Talos against his chest and praying silently. The men around him bore stone hard faces that knew of their imminent demise. Ahmes realized he was most likely the youngest of the group, which gave him a chilling felling. Some men behind Ahmes started to guess on what lied just in the distance that could possibly be so dangerous that stories claimed no one ever came back alive. "Maybe it is a dragon," one of the men guessed. The other man scoffed, "last time a dragon had been seen was a few years ago, ever since the Dragonborn slayed most of them, dragons have been scarcely heard of since." He explained. "Well what do you think it is?" The first man responded. The other man looked up and placed his hand to his face, stroking his beard. "Perhaps it is a swarm of all kinds of monsters; the idea of one large monster seems kinda off since we would've seen a large beast by now. And there is the fact that we were sent out here to a location where countless others went to die. No, one monster would most likely move around unless we were invading its home." He stated as the small army continued to march onward. Ahmes stopped walking for a moment until the person behind him bumped into him and berated him to keep moving. Ahmes had wondered about the Hunt for a long time now, and realized that there were some things about this impossible mission that seemed off to him. How was it the commanders leading this band of rapists, thieves, and volunteers know where the Hunt is in the in first place? If no one came out of the Hunt alive, how can people know about it? What could possibly so much of a threat that people need to be sent to the Hunt almost consistently? None of this made sense to him, but he realized many of his questions would be answered soon, but he was worried that he might not be able to live to tell the tale. As the army treaded forward nervously, Ahmes could start to smell the copper scent of blood becoming too unbearable to breathe in. He hid the bottom half of his face under his ragged shirt in order to avoid the stench of rotten flesh and dried blood. Some men followed the same action as others began to cough uncontrollably from the thick air. The rain had helped hide the stench slightly, but even then the smell was too strong for most of them. The trees around them had become distorted and old, covered in ash and red stains. Piles of bones and armor littered the ground around them, almost as if a large battle took place there. Some of them started to pray more loudly while others tried to keep their gaze forward, away from the countless dead bodies. The makeshift army had marched in the graveyard for what seemed like an eternity until the commander up front raised his hand and the small army halted. Ahmes was near the front lines now, and he could see a small cave in the distance. The commander shouted for all the men to take arms as everyone unsheathed their swords and bows. Most of which were broken and rusted swords. Ahmes could almost even spot a few mages in the mix. The group slowly moved to the front of the cave carefully, as if a single sound will unleash the hell inside. Small beads of sweat ran down Ahmes' face as he tried to look into the cave, but could only see complete darkness. He had half expected legions of spiders to run out and devour them all, but only the cold wind escaped the cave. As they stood only a few feet away from the entrance, black crows flew high above the cave, waiting for their next feast to present itself. Ahmes looked intently inside the small cave from where he stood and held his breathe. The storm began to become harsher as lightning painted the sky in its white light. From the flash of lightning, Ahmes could see what awaited them inside, for only a second. A small figure sat within the small cave and small droplets of water fell to the ground with small splats. Mud around it was a mixture of brown and red, ripples spreading throughout it from each drop. Ahmes could make out black armor sitting inside the dark hole that moved up in down steadily with each breathe. It's breathing was ragged and sounded more animal-like than human. It held a long black broadsword pointed downward to the ground sitting lazily atop his shoulder. The armor was sinister looking and had an evil aura around it, each piece covered in blood. Its leg tucked under the other while its other leg had its knee up, in almost a half crisscrossed pose. Red eyes glowed inside its black helm that promised death and destruction to all that drew near. A black cape hung loosely on its back, raggedly flowing in the small amount f wind it received. The blade was black, with red outlines and inscriptions decorating it, making a sinister design. Its gauntlet shaped like claws, with each end of its fingers tipped in red, dried blood. A single red thread hung from the top of the helm that flowed to the side. The most terrifying feature was the small wisps of darkness that danced around it, somewhat hiding its image while creating a sense of an unstoppable shadow. Inside the cave, was only a single person.

Chapter 2

Slowly, the figure rose from its spot and walked out the cave with its black sword dragged through the bloodied dirt. The group backed away in fear of the intimidating creature as it stared blankly back at them. The creature raised its head to the sky and stared into the clouds as rain fell onto its helmet. Ahmes had foolishly hoped for a moment that maybe it was an ally and that it would help them with the Hunt. He had realized that was only another naïve thought as the eyes within the helm intensified with a blood red hue. It began to roar a sickening scream that echoed throughout the area. Many of the men covered their ears while the other half stood there in fear, some shaking their legs. The commander raised his sword into the air and stroke down, signaling the motion to attack as he screamed with a hint of fear and desperation in his voice, "Kill it!" the army began to roar and charge at the beast. Prepared to avenge the fallen men before them, and kill the dark armored monster. Within a single moment, the black beast looked forward to the army before it, and swung its sword at the crowd. Multiple men fell backwards from the hit, bodies cut in half from the sheer might of the monster's blade. The army kept charging forward, hoping to knock the creature off its feet, but it continued to slash as more men died before Ahmes. Ahmes tried to rationalize the fear that had started to cloud his mind. Ahmes had never before seen men die. He had seen the corpses of loved ones that had passed on, but never seen men get literally cut in half before his eyes. Screams of pain and fear echoed throughout the battlefield as the black knight hacked and slashed through countless men. Soon, the sky began to rain both blood and water. Ahmes had gotten closer and closer to his impending doom, as more men were slaughtered like pigs around him. So, this is war, Ahmes thought before the black monster jumped next to him. Red eyes met blue ones for only a moment until the armored figure punched Ahmes aside with his arm. The force of the hit was so strong that Ahmes was knocked back several feet backward and into a pile of corpses. Ahmes' had hit his head against the chest plate of one of the dead commanders and he then saw everything had become fuzzier. Screams had started to completely surround him and become muffled until his eyes were forced shut into unconsciousness.

Ahmes had awaked to the sounds of metal clashing on metal. He slowly opened his eyes to find himself under a corpse that reeked with blood and sweat. He had hoped that maybe he was in a nightmare and that he would wake up to live out another average day back home. He mentally cursed at himself for thinking that this was a dream. He looked up and realized the rain had stopped and a thick fog covered the whole area. Every so often he would hear a scream and a thump on the cold ground. Every second passing, the sounds of battle moved closer. Ahmes' heart began to pound in his chest, fearing that he would be the next to die. Soon after, he heard a loud thump come from in front of him as he closed his eyes tight in fear. When he opened his eyes again, fear began to overtake him as he put his hand over his mouth to prevent himself from screaming. In front of him was a young woman whose brown hair spread out down her back with beautiful green eyes that almost seemed lifeless. Atop her head was an iron helm with horns protruding on both sides with a few stands of her brown hair poking out from under it. If Ahmes had met this woman in a different situation he wouldn't be surprised if he would've been smitten by her beauty. But what made him so afraid was the blood that decorated her forehead and the almost lifeless eyes that stared at him. He was about to check if the woman was alive until he noticed her shallow breathing that could be seen from the cold air. Her eyes had become lifeless into panic and fear within a moment as she tried to reach out to Ahmes. He could tell that words were trying to form from her mouth, but nothing could escape her lips. Instead, he could only faintly tell what she wanted to say by reading her lips. _Help me,_ he could read. His heart began to speed up as her plea had registered into his mind. He extended his hand out to the young woman, fingers about to touch one another. He could almost feel the shaken hand of the woman until a loud metallic bang exploded before him. He then closed his ears in fear again and retracted his hand away as if her hand would be hot to the touch. A moment later, Ahmes opened his eyes and saw a metallic, black boot in front of him. He noticed that the floor had become splattered with blood and iron. The head of the pleading woman completely destroyed from the force of the stomp. He followed his gaze up the boot and was met with red eyes bearing down at him. Ahmes was about to scream, but the fear had stopped him from doing anything. All he could do was stare up at the black knight that had just stomped someone's head in with little to no effort. A black gauntlet had reached for him and slowly raised him up into the air by his neck. Ahmes began to struggle within the monster's grip, but the knight was too strong for Ahmes to release himself. The black knight slowly rose his sword up and pointed it straight into Ahmes' face. The sword moved forward little by little each passing second. Ahmes' face began to pale as he soon realized that this demon was going to take his time murdering him. The black blade poked his cheek ever so slightly, only to break the skin until a whistle flew through the air and bounced off the black knight's shoulder blade. The demon turned around to find the old man that Ahmes had laughed with before with a Nordic bow aimed at the black beast. "Over here you son of a bitch," the old man said with a faint smile as the monster let go of Ahmes and casually walked toward the old man. "What are you doing?!" Ahmes asked frantically as he started to cough for air. The old man smiled from finally being able to make the young man talk. "You shouldn't be here kid, you're too young to throw your life away to this…this monster," the old man explained as he fired more arrows at the black knight, only to have them deflected by its black sword or bounce harmlessly off its armor. The berserker had moved at an inhuman speed and was instantly in front of the old man. The old man attempted to block the sword with his bow, but the blade cut through the bow and his arm as if it were made of paper. The old man screamed in agony before being held up by the neck by the armored demon and had its sword pointed at his face, similar to the position Ahmes was only moments before. The old man struggled to breathe as he looked towards Ahmes before whispering in a hoarse voice, "Run." Ahmes had snapped himself out of his fear induced paralysis and did just that. He dared not to look back and sprinted as fast as he could. He had almost tripped countless times over the dead bodies that littered the ground. Blood had been spilt everywhere, and it had even been splattered on Ahmes' face. He tried to run as fast as he could, his legs were screaming from the strain he had been putting them in. A loud sickening roar, no doubt the berserker, echo throughout the fog. Ahmes only continued to sprint forward blindly through the fog for his life. He could hear the loud stomping of the metallic boots smash into the ground come closer in a sprint. No doubt to try to kill him. He could hear moans of the dying on the ground below him, some begging to die, others simply wanting their mothers. Ahmes tried his best to ignore them and focused on trying to run. As Ahmes started to notice the fog lessen as he moved forward, a sense of relief began to overtake him. He might just live, he might actually survive. His thoughts of relief were interrupted as a black blade made contact with his back. The cut was deep enough for Ahmes to scream out in pain, but not enough to stop him from moving. Eventually the sound of the demon following him had become faint and Ahmes could see clearly, as if there was no fog to being with. His sprinting had slowed down to a painful jog and finally ended when he fell over to the ground exhausted. He finally was able to get away from the monster within the fog, he began to laugh as he realized that he was going to live, but soon that laughter had morphed into full out sobs as he recalled what had just happened. He sat up into his knees and continuously smashed the ground over and over as he wailed into the night. Eventually, exhaustion overtook him and landed on his face into the cold hard dirt. His eyes shut themselves again from exhaustion as the day had finally caught up to him. Sleep began to take over and his nightmares became plagued by the demon that had killed a little more than a hundred people within the span of a few hours.

Chapter 3

Ahmes had awoke with a groan and quickly realized that he was no longer lying on the ground, but within a small cabin with a warm cloak on the lower half of his body. He immediately looked down and noticed that his shirt was gone and his upper body had been covered in bandages. He tried to sit up but a hand gripped his shoulder and forced him back down. He was startled by the presence of another person, but was immediately hushed as the person spoke. "Hey now, it's all right. Just lie down. I will tell Alvor that you have awoken," said the voice. Ahmes noticed through the softness and feminine voice, he could immediately tell that the voice belonged to a woman. Her voice seemed to belong to someone much older than himself though, as he could hear the faint trace of age through the voice's softness. He tried to get a better look of the figure that had walked out the room, but the candles inside weren't bright enough to see clearly. A few moments later, loud footsteps calmly passed through the door, and Ahmes could tell a man had sat in the chair beside him now. "Good thing we have found ya, boy. You looked like you were seconds away from death's door when my daughter and her friend brought you here," The masculine voice said. Ahmes tried to form words but he realized that his throat was incredibly dry, and his voice had become raspy and painful to talk. "Where am I?" he asked as the woman walked back into the room and handed a small wooden cup to Ahmes. "Riverwood, my daughter, Dorthe, and her friend, Frodnar, found you lying on the ground half dead when they were hunting for food. They brought you back here as soon as they could and we got a couple doctors here to patch ya up." Ahmes recognized the name Riverwood, the village rested on the eastern bank of the White River, in the Whiterun Hold. He had attempted to memorize the Skyrim maps he had when he was a young boy, and he spent most of his time learning about all the places he wanted to go adventures on when he got older. He realized that he wasn't far from Helgen. After drinking from the cup, he realized that they had given him water to help his dry throat. He sat up slowly in the bed and got a closer look of the two people who helped him recover from his injuries. The man sitting on the chair was old; he guessed that he was probably in his sixties. The man's white hair and beard was somewhat scraggly, and he had tired brown eyes with a hard looking face that no doubt have seen many things. The woman had a light brownish color to her hair with small wrinkles and crow's feet decorating her face. Her eyes were the same color as the man's and her face gave a look for concern for the young man. "My name is Alvor and this is my wife, Sigrid," he said as her hand rested on his shoulder. "Dorthe will be back soon, we should try to set up dinner and make room for our guest," Sigrid said as Alvor nodded in agreement. "Don't go anywhere, we don't want your wounds to open up do we?" he asked in a half threatening tone as the two stood and made way to the other room. Ahmes lay back down as he remembered what had transpired last time he was awake. _How long have I been out? Were there any other survivors? Just what was that thing?_ These unanswerable questions floated around his mind until his train of thought had been interrupted by the sound of a door opening. "Mother! Father! I'm home!" a feminine voice yelled, "Frodnar and I were chasing after a huge elk, but a frost troll got to it first, you should've seen it!" The voice explained as Ahmes heard her walk through the house. Sigrid's voice could be heard throughout the house, "Dorthe! Back home just in time! We already set the table for dinner," Sigrid replied. "Wait, mother, the table has been set for 4 people. Has he woken up?" Dorthe asked with a hopeful tone. "Yes, he is awake and in the other room now, don't try to startle him. He only woke up a little while ago," she explained to the young woman. Dorthe had almost sprinted to the room where Ahmes laid. As she entered the room, Ahmes noticed her light brown hair whip around to the side. She sat in the chair beside Ahmes and looked down at him. "Are you alright? You were badly injured when we found you," she said with concern in her voice. Ahmes noticed that this young woman looked to be in her mid-twenties, and that a war hammer rested on her back. She was not the most beautiful woman Ahmes had ever encountered, but she was at least somewhat attractive. War paint was found under her eyes and black eyeliner was around them. Light brown eyes looked into blue ones for a moment before she looked away, embarrassed for staring. Ahmes lifted his legs slowly to the side of the bed, and attempted to stand but the severities of his injuries made him cry out in pain and fall backward on the bed. Dorthe reached out for the young man and helped him get on his feet. "Yes, I am alright. Thank you," Ahmes said as he forced the pain away. Dorthe placed Ahmes' arm on her shoulders and helped Ahmes sit down at the kitchen table. Ahmes nodded and gave his thanks as he waited for food to be served. Across from him sat Alvor, and Dorthe took a seat to his right. A few seconds later, Sigrid entered with small plates of venison in each hand. She went back and forth and eventually the table was set. Only small amounts of food sat on the plates, but Ahmes didn't mind. Little food was better than none. "My apologies, we would have more if Dorthe caught dinner for us this morning," Sigrid said as Dorthe shot a small glare at her mother, "I told you, the frost troll got to it first!" she whined. Ahmes began to eat as the two women bantered for a little while until Alvor spoke up, "What is your name young man?" he asked while the attention of the two woman turned to Ahmes. "My name is Ahmes sir," he said shyly as he tried to look at anything other than the other people in the room. Alvor took a bite from his venison, "Tell me, Ahmes, why exactly were you on the ground, covered in blood and half dead in the middle of nowhere?" Alvor asked as he continued to chew on his dinner. Ahmes was reluctant to tell them, worried that they might not believe him, but he realized that all he could offer was only the truth, "I had come from the Hunt," he said as silence spread throughout the table. The family stared at him as if he had three heads. "No one survives the Hunt, and gets to tell the tale about it," Dorthe explained as her eyes widen from the fact that she sat in front of an enigma. Ahmes' eyes stared down to the floor, knowing what they would ask next. "What was it like?" Sigrid asked as she leaned forward in her seat, awaiting Ahmes' answer. Ahmes' eyes became lifeless as he debated whether to tell them what exactly made the Hunt so dangerous. "It was a nightmare. Everyone there had been massacred by it. I would've died to if it weren't for someone giving up his life to save mine," tears threatened to fall down his face. "I didn't even learn their names, and now…they're gone. Every last one of them slaughtered, by that _thing!_ " He said with venom in his voice. "What are you talking about? What thing?" Dorthe asked, afraid to hear the answer. Ahmes made a long sigh, not really sure how to explain, "I don't really know what it was. It wore armor, black as night. The strength of its blade could cut down three men at the same time. Its eyes were blood red," he recalled as memories of the monster resurfaced. His heart sped up as he remembered every detail of it, as if he were looking at it as he talked about it, "It was faster, stronger, and angrier than anything I have ever seen. It even took its time killing people at the end, stabbing them slowly enough for them to feel the most excruciating pain," He stopped as the red eyes of his nightmare stared back at him through his memories. Fear gripped his heart and his body shook. Alvor reached across the table and touched his shoulder in comfort. "It's okay, you don't have to tell us the rest." He said. Ahmes breathed a sigh a relief he didn't know he held in. He truly didn't want to remember it all again, he wanted nothing to do with that nightmare ever again. "May I ask something? Why choose to partake in the Hunt? Surely you know it is a death sentence," Sigrid asked. "It was either that or sign up for the army and go to war. When I first decided to take part in the Hunt, I thought it would be an adventure, that I would be fine. I didn't want to partake in a war that I didn't think I was a part of. My father went to the Hunt when I was younger. Maybe I wanted to find or avenge him, maybe the unknown excited me…I don't know," Ahmes explained as he placed his palm to the side of his head. His appetite had been lost, and a small headache began to form in his mind. He remembered when Imperial soldiers came to his village and tried to get men to sign up to fight for the Second Great War against the Thalmor. The Second Great War had been going on a few years after the Empire had won against the Stormcloaks. With the Empire returning to power in Skyrim, an all-out campaign against the Thalmor had begun. The war had been going on for as long Ahmes could remember, and it had no signs of stopping anytime soon. And as the war raged on longer, the fewer amount of knights and good men were sent to the Hunt. Seeing as the Hunt was a lost cause, the empire had no reason to send an able body army to fight a pointless slaughter. The most amounts of people sent to the Hunt were only a mere hundred or so, most of which were rapists and thieves, with only a few good men leading it. When growing up, your choices were The Second Great War, or The Hunt. He remembered many boys his age signing up and going to war, only to return as corpses. Ahmes didn't really think the war was really his problem. He never really knew any Thalmor, and he hated politics. All he ever cared about was the adventure he had been dreaming of. Ahmes stood up from his seat with pain running through his legs and upper body. "I'm sorry, I have lost my appetite," he said sadly as he walked out into the night. He sat down on the porch in front of him, and Ahmes looked up at the night sky. The two moons above captivated him. He heard a door open behind him as Dorthe sat next to him. "I'm sorry you had to talk about all of that," she said with an apologetic tone. Ahmes waved her off, "It's okay, I would've asked too. It's not every day you find someone half dead on the ground. I am thankful you brought me in and helped me recover," He said with a smile. Dorthe turned away and smiled widely, "Well, it's what anyone else in my position would do, and besides, Frodnar was the one who carried you back, not me," she said with modesty. Ahmes looked up in thought, "I suppose so, either way, thank you," he said smiling again. Dorthe smiled back before looking up at the night sky, "Beautiful night we have," she said, admiring the sight of the night sky above her. Ahmes looked up and remembered the monster that almost killed him. He found it harder to find things beautiful now that the demon still walks the earth. Ahmes made an inner vow that he would get revenge for his fallen comrades one day.

Chapter 4

Metal had clashed with metal while Ahmes looked onward from his chair, awaiting Dorthe to finish her next creation. Alvor had given Ahmes some of his old clothes to wear, since Ahmes' had been covered in blood and dirt. It had been several days since Ahmes awoke from his long sleep, and he had been recovering at a very fast pace. When Ahmes had asked for advice on what he should do next, Alvor recommended the young man to go out and tell the Jarl of Whiterun, Jarl Frothar son of Balgruuf, of his experience with the Hunt, and see what to do then. When Ahmes said that he would go and venture to Whiterun, Dorthe said she would go to the forge and make Ahmes something to help him in his travels. Dorthe had been famous throughout Riverwod to be one of the best blacksmith for miles, maybe even the best of all Skyrim. She took after her father, who made a living as a blacksmith, and she a natural at it.

When she told Ahmes about her next masterpiece would be for him, he was honored by the gesture and initially didn't know what to say. He had asked her if he needed to pay any coin for it, but she had declined, stating that they were friends now, and friends did this for each other. Ahmes had spent most of his time learning the names and faces of those at Riverwood, especially those who had helped him recover in the first place.

The day after Ahmes had awoke from his sleep, he had met Frodnar. At first Ahmes thought Frodnar was a decent young man who seemed to be around the same age as Dorthe, but he soon became very irritating when Dorthe had helped feed Ahmes in bed rest. They had butted heads ever since. Ahmes was no fool, he could tell that Frodnar was jealous of Ahmes, and was in love with Dorthe. Everyone in the village except Dorthe could see it, and Ahmes had told Frodnar in private that he had no intention of stealing Dorthe away from him. Frodnar seemed to have warmed up to Ahmes a bit when Ahmes told him that, but even still, he decided to irritate Ahmes any time he had gotten any attention from Dorthe. Frodnar's dog, Stump, seemed to like Ahmes instantly and would spend many days simply lying aside Ahmes' chair, which would irritate Frodnar to no end. Stump was a very old dog, and many of the people of Riverwood were surprised the dog was still around.

For the past couple of days, hunting for the small village had been difficult. Every time people would go out hunting for food for their families, a frost troll would get in the way and kill the animal before hunters could get a good shot at it. Eventually, a hunting party had formed in order to kill the troll stealing all of their game. However, every time they would go after it, it would always run away or fight back; injuring many who dare attack it. In the distance, hunters would sit in a small circle, strategizing a way to kill the troll and get food for their families. Frodnar and Dorthe would sometimes partake in these small meetings and hunts, but in their free time, they would continue their daily activities. Like Dorthe making Ahmes her next masterpiece and Frodnar playing with the children. Ahmes had been watching the two out of boredom and eventually decided to try moving around on his own. Now that his wounds have healed, moving around had become much easier. Ahmes had only exerted himself when he tried to run or swing a sword to the point where he felt excruciating pain.

Ahmes had walked to Dorthe's forge and tried to get a peek at what exactly she had in store for him. "You know, you shouldn't be walking around while recovering. Especially when it involves trying to ruin your surprise," she said while not taking her eyes off of her work. Ahmes made a small smile as he watched Dorthe hammer away at the metal. "Well, there is really not much to do around here except trying to recover faster, which ends up with me getting hurt, or talking to you. I think I would rather go with the idea of not hurting myself for no good reason," he laughed as Dorthe made a small smile, still focusing on her work. "Why don't you go help my mother wash the clothes, or help father and the hunters find a way to kill that stupid frost troll?" she asked. Ahmes shrugged before turning around and lean on a nearby wooden pillar. "Don't know, I guess I'm not really a fan of cleaning or finding ways to kill something," he said half-jokingly. He saw Frodnar playing with the children of the village and smiled as he grew a new found respect for the young man. Ahmes had always had a soft spot for kids, but he was always too shy to ever talk to almost anyone back home. He was always afraid someone had told the children how much of an introvert he was, and was always afraid that the children would call him a weirdo or a creep. "Why not? I bet the men here would love to hear what your brilliant strategic mind had to say," Dorthe said sarcastically. "Y'know, I am pretty smart, I just can't use a bow for my life, and I'm not that great with a sword either," Ahmes said as he turned back to Dorthe who had been wiping sweat off her brow to take a break. She walked past Ahmes and grabbed hold of his wrist. He was beginning to protest and whine as she dragged him across the village and plopped him down next to the men planning to take down the troll. "Well, if you are so smart, tell them what you think they should do," she said in a joking tone. The rest of the villagers men stared at Ahmes as Ahmes tried to fight off the initial embarrassment of all eyes on him. He looked at the ground before him, and noticed the lines of dirt they had made. He couldn't tell what exactly they have been planning based on the lines, but he could tell that they have been getting nowhere based on the look of frustration on their faces. Ahmes began to think while the others stared at him. Multiple ideas began to sprout in Ahmes' mind, and he took one more quick look at the drawings in the dirt before talking. "Well, frost trolls are typically found in snowy areas in the north. Which is a little strange in this part of Skyrim, and they are usually found in caves. The nearest cave is only a few miles, so it is most likely to be in one of those, but it's hard to figure out which exact cave is the right one. Our best bet in luring it is to give it some bait. Some venison might do the trick, but chances are that it might not work. They are long muscular arms with claw tipped fingers, so getting to it at close range is a bad idea, unless we corner it and all attack it at once. But that is too risky. Although they are strong, they aren't relatively fast, so keeping our distance is our best bet. Their major weakness seems to be fire, so the best option is to use fire magic to take it out. But there aren't any mages around, so we can probably tip out arrows in fire, and that might work. I would probably hit it in its middle eye first, since the eyes will disorient it and the middle eye is the easiest to hit. From there I would try to surround it and fire flame tipped arrows to finish it off," he said leaving himself completely winded after his speech. The rest of the group stared at him as they thought about what he said. Many of their faces grew smiles as they realized that Ahmes' plan might work. They all started to laugh and come into agreement that that was the best course of action to attempt next. Alvor had slung his arm over Ahmes' shoulders and then proceeded to pat the boy in the back hard. Ahmes' face had turned red from the attention he was receiving and was glad that he could help. Many of the men suggested Ahmes go with them to hunt the frost troll, but Dorthe argued that Ahmes was still recovering from his injuries. Alvor told her that Ahmes had been walking around just fine for the past few days, and that was enough to go hunting. At first, Ahmes had been reluctant to go with them, but he eventually gave in and Alvor was happy to know ahmes was coming along.

Later that evening, Ahmes and the men of Riverwood had made way into the outskirts around Riverwood. Dorthe decided to stay by Ahmes since she thought he would need someone to look out for him. One of the men eventually spotted the troll, and everyone pulled out their bows. Ahmes became nervous since he knew he was terrible at firing a bow and would most likely miss and embarrass himself. Frodnar had been acclaimed to be the best archer in Riverwood, so it was decided that he would be the one to make the first shot and shoot at the frost troll's middle eye. Seconds felt like hours as the frost troll feasted on a dear that had been wandering around Skyrim at the wrong place and the wrong time. Frodnar slowly cocked his arrow back and started to breathe slowly, trying to center and focus his shot. The beast had finally looked up from a small noise the bow made from being pulled back and Frodnar fired. The beast's head immediately pulled back from the pain of its middle eye being pierced by the arrow as more men fired their flame tipped arrows at the frost troll. The troll began to get angry and punch the ground wildly. It then ran at a random direction in a wild frenzy, hoping it would escape. Unfortunately, that direction just so happened to be where Ahmes was standing. The beast sprinted forward, not caring what it ran over in its way. Many of the hunters decided to jump out of the way, so they wouldn't get mulled by the beast. Dorthe had moved to the left alongside the hunters, but Ahmes could only stand in fear as the beast charged at him. Memories of the black knight rushed into his mind as the image of the troll slowly morphed into the black monster. Although it had been a normal day in the eyes of everyone around him, Ahmes could only see the rain and the lightning that illuminated the area from that day in his fear induced state. The troll had gotten closer and closer, and Ahmes couldn't move a muscle as his mind's eye showed him the image of a black sword high in the air, ready to kill the last survivor of the Hunt. Dorthe had noticed Ahmes not moving and called out to him, but Ahmes couldn't register what was going on. Rage began to consume him as the memories of the fallen rushed into his mind. The image of the woman whose head was crushed stared at him as he grit his teeth and unsheathed a rusty sword from his hip. He charged forward blindly at the troll, rusty sword in hand, ignoring the pain that echoed throughout his body. The troll raised its large claws, ready to kill Ahmes in a moment's notice. The black knight's arms were above his head in Ahmes' mind as he charged forward and stabbed at the image in front of him. _I will not lose to you again! I am going to kill you! I am going to kill you!_ He chanted in his head over and over as he stabbed at the troll over and over into its chest. After the tenth stab, the troll fell over and lay dead at Ahmes' feet. The men got over their initial shock and started to cheer in victory. Dorthe remained quiet as she watched Ahmes topple over and fall on his back. She immediately rushed over to him and laid him up against her lap. The men continued to cheer as Dorthe stared down at Ahmes in fear. Tears fell down his face as the fear and anger that consumed him left, leaving only the sadness to remain. He couldn't see Dorthe looking down at him; he could only see the black knight's blood gaze through the eyes of its helm. He wanted to scream, but he had lost his voice. Soon, unconsciousness overtook him once again.

Chapter 5

Ahmes had woken up screaming with a bead of sweat running down his brow. He sighed in relief. The black knight of the Hunt has plagued his nightmares every night since his encounter with it. He remembered the events that occurred before he fell unconscious and got up from his bed. He looked around and found that no one was home. He also realized that his body was no longer in enough pain to halt his movements like before as he made a fast pace outside. When he closed the door to the home behind him, the first thing that caught his attention was the sound of music and laughter in the inn nearby. Curiosity overtook him, and he made a quick walk over to the inn. As he opened the door, the thick scent of beer and sweet rolls invaded his nostrils as his stomach began to growl in response. The inn had almost everyone in the village inside, many of which were singing and dancing while getting plastered from the alcohol they were drinking. Many of the villagers of Riverwood noticed Ahmes enter and raised their drinks while cheering of his arrival. Ahmes looked around through the crowd before someone rested their arm over Ahmes' shoulder. He turned his head and saw Dorthe with a drunken look on her face smile at him and laughed. Ahmes could smell the alcohol come out of her breathe when she laughed heartily. "Hey Ahmes! Where've you been?" she asked in a slurred voice. Ahmes faintly smiled, "Remember? I have been sleeping ever since that incident with the troll," he said, laughing at the state of his friend. She looked up in thought, Ahmes could see the wheels in her head turn before she snapped her fingers when she could recall. "Oh that's right! Ahmes, you were so cool when you attacked that troll head on. You were like 'Ahhhhhhhh' and the troll was all like, 'noooooooo'," she slurred while making exaggerated hand motions. "What's the occasion? Everybody's celebrating," he asked before Dorthe laughed and slammed her hand into Ahmes' back. Ahmes had almost toppled over from the force of the friendly gesture of the young woman before regaining his bearings. Dorthe laughed heartily as she looked at her friend's lack of composure. "Were celebrating you, dumbass! With that troll gone, nothing can get in the way of our hunting! And it's all thanks to you!" she yelled as she took another gulp from her bottle of mead. "Say…how about you and me, get to know each other a little better," she said in a sultry voice. Ahmes' mind had completely shut down from her suggestion and his face had gotten completely red. Dorthe had started to push her body against Ahmes' as she wrapped her arms around Ahmes' neck. Ahmes looked away from her in order to hide the embarrassment from his face. "D-Dorthe, you're drunk. Y-You don't want to make any poor decisions right now," he stuttered. Dorthe's face broke into a sly smile, "You don't know that, I have never felt better in my life," she said. She leaned into Ahmes' ear and whispered, "So how about we go and make a stupid decision together?" she asked seductively before biting his earlobe lightly. Ahmes had absolutely no idea what to do at the moment and in complete honesty, he wasn't completely opposed to the idea. But he made a promise to not only himself, but also to Frodnar that he wouldn't do anything, especially since she was under the influence of alcohol. _Where is Frodnar anyway?_ Ahmes asked himself. He looked over to his right and in the far corner he could see Frodnar passed out with writing on him with Gods knows what. _Well shit, Frodnar,_ Ahmes thought with a tired groan. He looked back to Dorthe and the look in her eyes screamed of lust and the desire to lay with him for the night. _If she is going to look at me like that, it's gonna make it harder to deny her,_ he thought before shaking those thoughts out of his mind. "I'm sorry Dorthe, but I can't," he said before a look of confusion and sadness etched itself on her face. In less than a moment, that look was replaced with frustration and anger. "What am I not good enough for you?" she asked in an angry slur. Ahmes put his hands up, "No, that's not it. I-" Dorthe released herself from him and stormed out the inn before Ahmes could explain himself. He made another tired sigh, _Well shit, now she hates me,_ he thought. He turned towards the door and followed her before should could do anything reckless, and to apologize. When he opened the door he was met with the sight of a crying Dorthe sitting on the stairs of the inn. Ahmes sighed again, and sat down next to her. She didn't turn, and could already tell who it was that sat next to her. "You know, when I was a kid, my mom used to say to act more lay-like, but I always said 'That's just stupid girl talk'," she said before laughing lightly. "She said that I wouldn't get a man if I acted like a boy, and I never listened. Who would've known she was gonna be right," she said with melancholy in her voice. Ahmes looked at her sympathetically, "No Dorthe, that isn't true. A lot of guys would be happy to be with you," Ahmes explained as Dorthe turned to him with a glare, "Then why is it I never get anywhere with men!? Why is it the one time I actually try to be with someone, they reject me?" she asked with tears threatening to fall down her face. Ahmes ran a hand through his hair, "Look, you aren't ugly and you are a great person. Don't ever let anyone make you think otherwise or make you think you have to be different from who you are. The reason I said no to you wasn't because you weren't attractive or you weren't girly enough. Trust me, you make it really hard to say no, but I promised someone that I wouldn't do anything sexual with you. And I definitely won't take advantage of you," Ahmes said while rubbing Dorthe's back to comfort her. Dorthe looked up at Ahmes in confusion, "Really? Who?," she asked. Ahmes shook his head, "I promised not to tell," he said defiantly. Dorthe started to pout, "Then how can I tell if you're lying or not?" she asked, not believing in what Ahmes was saying. Ahmes rose his hands up in defense, "No really! Do you really think I would lie to you?" he asked sincerely. Dorthe looked back down to the wooden stairs and shook her head with a small smile on her face. "There's that smile. You look way better with a smile than with a frown," Ahmes said with a wide smile. Dorthe looked back up to Ahmes, looking back and forth between his smile and his eyes. "Thanks Ahmes, you really know what to say," she said with a small blush. Ahmes stood up from the stairs and placed his hand out for Dorthe to grab on to, "C'mon lets go back inside, you must be freezing out here," he said carefully leading Dorthe back inside. When they got back inside, most of the villagers were either knocked out or singing with plastered expressions on their faces. Dorthe and Ahmes laughed as they looked at all the people who had drunken themselves out cold and proceeded to draw on their faces and pull little pranks on them while they slept. For the first time in a long time, Ahmes was truly having fun and for Ahmes, it was one of the greatest nights of his life.

Chapter 6

A few days later, Ahmes decided it was time to head out to Whiterun, and tell the Jarl of his experience in the Hunt. If he told the Jarl about it and proved that he was the last survivor, hopefully the Jarl will take notice and do something about it. _I have to try at least_ , he thought, _I owe it to all the people lost to the Hunt._ Alvor and his wife had packed a few pounds of venison for his trip, and he was given multiple sets of clothes to last him the journey. He had his pack strapped to his back, a bow on his shoulder, and a sword strapped to his hip. He now stood facing the family and a few friends that had helped him recover the past week, and he knew that he had make some new friends that would last a lifetime. "Well, this is it. I really can't thank you enough, you all have done so much for me," Ahmes said as he looked at each of them. "Thank you for helping us with that frost troll, without your help, we would be starving for weeks," Alvor said as he grasped Ahmes' hand in a strong handshake. "It was nothing, anyone would've done the same in my position," he said with a smile while looking back at Dorthe for a moment. He then turned to Sigrid, "Thank you for helping me get back on my feet, without your help, I might still be weak in that bed," Ahmes said as Sigrid gave him a gentle hug. He then turned to Frodnar, "Hey, look after Dorthe for me, she's a handful," Ahmes said as Dorthe yelled at him, pretending to be offended. Frodnar scoffed, "Didn't need you to tell me that," he replied as Dorthe slapped him in the back of the head. They all laughed as Frodnar grasped Ahmes' arm in a brotherly manner, "Take care of yourself out there," he said. Ahmes broke out into a big grin as he nodded enthusiastically. Ahmes then turned to Dorthe and smiled warmly, "Hey, make sure to-," Ahmes was interrupted as Dorthe pulled him into a giant bear hug and he squeezed back as tightly as he could. "Be safe," she said softly. He nodded with tears in his eyes while she pulled away and pulled out a large brown sack in front of her. "I almost forgot to give you this. I told you that I would make you my greatest masterpiece. I finally finished it last night," she said as she handed the brown sack to Ahmes, "Go on, open it," she said, excited about what was inside the sack. Ahmes carefully removed the old, brown sack to reveal a one handed steel sword. This particular sword was the most finely crafted steel Ahmes had ever laid eyes on. The steel shined in the sunlight as it was newly made. Ahmes moved it closer to his face to get a better look at it. This sword had rugged designs on the bottom edge, and the hilt appeared to be made of fine wood, with metal woven into it. The base of the blade had complex line patterns, with some dark grey areas. In the middle of the blade, a language Ahmes had never seen before was inscribed into the blade. "What does it say?" he asked while trying to figure out what language it was written in. "It was supposed to say, 'No matter how far apart we may be, I will be right beside you' in the ancient Nordic Language, but the stupid translator messed it up," she said before being engulfed by a bear hug. Ahmes never had anyone do something so nice for him. He could tell the blade had been made to be just as strong as elven metal, and that was no easy task. As he pulled away, some tears fell down his face. He unsheathed his sword and gave it to Dorthe. He then sheathed his new sword in his scabbard after reading the inscription again ' **Qeb Aoxdlkylok fp xifsb.** ' "Here, this sword was the sword I used in the Hunt. Now you have the only sword to ever see the Hunt and come back," he said as tears came down Dorthe's eyes as he handed her the rusty blade. "I really don't know what to say besides, thank you, all of you. I will never forget any of you," he said with a wide smile decorating his face. He made a deep inhale as he turned around and made his way forward. He looked back every couple of steps and saw them waving goodbye. With each step, his will to move forward lessened and his desire to stay increased. The only thing that stopped him was his resolve to get to Whiterun, and he would be damned if they saw him be a coward now. He started to run forward, awaiting anything that came his way now. While Ahmes' figure became smaller in the distance, Dorthe turned to her father, "Do you think we should've let him borrow a horse?"

He had absolutely no idea what to do. Surrounding him was a pack of wolves with stomachs that told him that they haven't had anything to eat for a while. _It had to be wolves,_ he thought as he slashed his sword at one of the wolves that tried to pounce on him. _Ok one down, four to go._ The wolves ran around him, ready to attack any opening he gave them. He made sure to keep his attention on all their movements, knowing one mistake meant death. One wolf got behind him and attempted to bite at his leg. Ahmes anticipated this and jumped forward, barely dodging the wolf's bite. Ahmes then proceeded to cut at the face of the wolf that tried to bite his leg off, and sliced its head off clean. _Man this sword has a really good edge, my compliments to the chef,_ he joked inwardly as he dodged another pounce and slice the front paws of his attacker. _Ok, three to go,_ he thought, making sure to keep his eye on the other two. The wolves took a step back before turning and retreating, knowing that they wouldn't win a fight with just the three of them. _Those wolves are smarter than they look,_ he thought as he sheathed his weapon away, only to hear a large bear roar and proceed to charge at him. _Oh they were running away from the bear…OH SHIT!_ He screamed internally as he started to sprint for his life away from the bear. _Oh shit I have to lose this guy somehow,_ he thought as he looked for a way to distract the bear long enough to make an escape. Nothing was coming to mind and Ahmes began to panic, _Shit-shit-shit-SHIT this is bad, c'mon Ahmes, think think think,_ he thought before turning around and trying to make himself look as big as possible. The bear simply stopped and looked at him in confusion for a moment before charging at him again with even more speed than before. _Shit that was supposed to work!_ He screamed internally as he went back to sprinting. He had started to lose speed as exhaustion was catching up to him. As the bear began to get closer and closer, an arrow flew past Ahmes and hit the bear straight in the left eye. The bear roared in pain as Ahmes used the opportunity to run to safety. Ahmes never had the chance to see nor thank his savior, but he prayed to as many deities as he could think of for sparing his life.

Eventually Ahmes had finally saw the large castle of Dragonsreach, and made a giant sigh of relief. _Thank the gods, I finally made it._ As he walked to the front gates, two guards unsheathed their blades and pointed them at him. "Halt! You there! Who are you?! State your business!" he yelled as his sword pointed directly to Ahmes' face. _Great to see the people of Whiterun are as welcoming as I thought they would be._ Ahmes thought sarcastically as he raised his hands to the air. "My name is Ahmes, I wish to speak to the Jarl," Ahmes said in a calm tone. The guards made no intention of lowering their blades. "How are we to know you are here to assassinate the Jarl for the Thalmor?," one of the guards asked with his blade pointing accusingly. "Has security actually been this tight since the Second Great War? I remember hearing tales of a time Whiterun was accessible to almost all," Ahmes said in a sarcastic tone. The guards looked at each other and then back to Ahmes, "Why do you wish to seek audience with Jarl Frothar?" the other guard asked. "I have an important message to give to him," Ahmes said. "If it as message you seek to give, then we can give it to him for you," the guard replied. "I apologize, but this message can only be for the Jarl's ears," Ahmes said, hoping that he wouldn't have to explain more. The guards didn't move an inch, "What could possibly be so important that only the Jarl can hear it?" the guard asked. Ahmes sighed and figured he should try to tell them at least something, since they won't believe him if he doesn't. He wasn't even sure if they would believe him if he told them the truth. "It is about the Hunt," he said. "What about the Hunt?" the guard asked. "I know what makes the Hunt so dangerous, and the Jarl has to know, please it is important," he pleaded. "And how can you possible know what is in the Hunt? No one ever survives the Hunt to tell people what lies in it," the other guard said, not believing Ahmes. "Because…I had come from the Hunt, I was the only survivor," he said as the guards looked to each other before one of them passing through the gate. Ahmes had waited outside Whiterun for around twenty minutes with the guards sword pointed at his neck until the other guard walked back out of the gate. "The Jarl will see you, but no funny business. We will stay right behind you the entire time so you better not try anything," the other guard said as they both sheathed their swords and opened the gate.

Light had blinded Ahmes for a moment as he passed through the main gate of Whiterun. He rubbed his eyes and he quickly adjusted to the light. The guards had pushed him forward slightly, silently warning him to move forward. As Ahmes passed by the Plains District, various children ran past him and merchants shouted at people passing by to buy their products. Ahmes smiled lightly, he had always wanted to see the major city of Skyrim since he was a little boy. Tales of its large size and memorable legends always fascinated him. It was one of the main reasons he wanted to go on an adventure in the first place. As they passed by the Wind District, Ahmes made note on how quiet it seemed. No doubt this was the resident district, and most people were inside their homes. Eventually, they had started to make their way up the stairs into the Cloud District. As they walked up the stairs Ahmes looked to his right and immediately looked at Jorrvaskr. He had always loved the stories his mother would tell him about the Companions and their adventures. It was one of the things that made him love Whiterun stories that much more fun to him. He could hear the ramblings of an old preacher on the ground below him; the old man was wearing yellow robes and had been standing in front of a statue of Talos. He appeared to be in his eighties and have been talking almost complete nonsense the entire time. Ahmes wondered if the old man had been preaching for a long time, he didn't think so. There had been a time when the Empire made laws that had banned the worship of Talos. No doubt it had been the Thalmor's fault, so no one was surprise to see the Empire barely enforce the law. However, it was this law that was the final straw for many of the residents of Skyrim, and civil war broke loose. Well, it was at least one of the major reasons. No doubt there were many rising tensions between Skyrim and the Empire years before. However, when the Empire had defeated the Stormcloaks, they had continued to enforce that law until they had started their campaign against the Thalmor years later. Ever since the Second Great War begun, Talos worship had returned and all the focus had been put on the war.

They had opened the large wooden doors of the large castle and Ahmes had entered Dragonsreach. Inside, Ahmes looked upon the Great Hall. There were two long tables on each side of the main chamber and a central fire place that illuminated the room. There were balconies on the upper floor, where very few nobles peered down from above. The head of Numinex adorned the great hall above the Jarl's throne and, the Jarl sat while listening to the whining of a young woman in an emerald dress with long curly brown hair, no doubt the curls weren't made naturally. The emerald dress had looked extravagant and had a gold lining on the bottom of it. The woman had an angry glare and large amounts of makeup covered the entirety of her face. The man sitting on the throne was none other than Jarl Frothar. He had messy brown hair that had reached his shoulders and a small brown beard adorns his face. A gold and ruby circlet sat upon his head and he was wearing noble clothes and fur linen boots. A small axe rested on one side of him while a small sword tested on the other. He had been massaging his temples as the woman kept prattling on about a dress she had wanted. "I'm so angry! You have promised me a new dress three days ago, now where is it?" she asked in an angry tone while tapping her foot with her arms crossed. "Making a dress takes a long time, Dagny. You must be patient." The Jarl said with a tried voice. "But I don't want to be patient! I want my dress now! You promised!" The young woman yelled as she stomped her heel into the ground. One of the guards behind Ahmes spoke up, "My lord, this is the one who wished to speak with you," he said as the Jarl and the spoiled woman turned to his direction. The young woman instantly narrowed her eyes at Ahmes, no doubt judging him at first sight and placing herself above him. "We will talk about this later Dagny," The Jarl commander as she made a humph and made way out of Dragonsreach's main gate. "I honestly only promised her the blasted dress to shut her up, I am trying to win a war and try and get rid of those bastard Horme bandits. Cant she see her dress has little significance?" he muttered to himself as Ahmes presented himself before him. "Do not worry on it much, brother, we have more important things to worry about," a man said as he placed his hand on the Jarl's shoulder. Ahmes didn't notice the man next to the Jarl when he had first entered. The man had slightly long brown hair, like his brother, only his was much lighter in comparison and his face didn't have a beard. He was wearing a heavy, steel plated armor and a large great sword rested on his back. No doubt this man was Nelkir, housecarl and half-brother to the Jarl of Whiterun. Ahmes had heard numerous stories of his skills as a swordsman and jouster. He had been reigned the undefeated champion of Whiterun, and continued to hold his title to this day. Ahmes had always been a fan of his growing up, the bastard son of Balgruuf rising through the ranks and becoming the housecarl to his brother. He had earned the respect of everyone in Whiterun.

"Yes, so you are the boy that my soldier told me about. So, you have a message for me about the Hunt? It is true that you have survived it?" The Jarl asked in a commanding tone. Ahmes had taken a knee and bowed his head. "Yes, my lord. It is true, I even have a scar on my back to prove it," Ahmes said in a polite tone. Both of the men's eyebrows have raised themselves slightly in disbelief. "Please, tell me what you saw," he commanded. Ahmes then reluctantly told him of his story of the black knight that resided in the Hunt. When his story was finished, the Jarl sat up from his throne and paced throughout the room. Ahmes could only stare at the floor in order to not seem disrespectful.

"I see, so this knight had black armor? Could you tell what metal it was made of? Deadric? Or Ebony perhaps?" he asked as Ahmes rose from his position. "I truly cannot give you a very accurate answer; I never got a very good look at what exactly his armor was made from. If I had to make a guess, I would most likely say Ebony, my lord," Ahmes said as he tried his best to remember and identify the armor the demon had worn, only to remember its red eyes and speed his own heart. "Hmm, what do you make of this Nelkir?" The Jarl asked as he turned to face him. Nelkir's face frowned as he tried to come up with a good answer. "Although I find it hard to believe the thing that has been killing all the people that were sent to the Hunt was a single person, I do think sending more men to the Hunt is a terrible idea. No doubt the Hunt is almost impossible to survive through and sending more men to a lost cause is pointless," he said as the Jarl went back to thinking. "I am sorry my friend, but I must think about this a while. Please, make yourself home at the nearest inn. I will call for you when I have made a decision," he decided as Ahmes took a knee and gave him his thanks. Ahmes turned to leave as the men in the main chamber began to talk amongst themselves once more, no doubt about the war against the Thalmor and what they should do about the Hunt. Their voices began to become quiet as the doors behind Ahmes closed. Ahmes then made his way down the stairs of Dragonsreach and decided to look around in the market for anything he would need for the days to come.

Chapter 7

As he walked through the streets of Whiterun, the sounds of various merchants yelling at passersby's and the smell of cooking meat brought a nostalgic feeling in Ahmes. He could remember all the times him and his parents went out to buy things from merchants that would travel by their village and the children spending their allowances on wooden weapons to play with. It was times like these when he missed his old home, but he knew times like this were rare and he didn't know if he would ever have this kind of free time again.

A sudden shout of frustration filled the air and a voice called out, "Absurd! How is it you don't sell sweetrolls?" The voice yelled in a demanding voice. Ahmes turned towards the voice and instantly recognized it as Dagny's. "I'm sorry my lady, but we only sell vegetables and fruits. We don't have any sweetrolls," she said in a frightened yet apologetic tone. Dagny's lips twisted into a snarl as she knocked over all the food that was on the girl's bench. The girl made a whimpering sound as she knelt down and tried to pick up the food from the floor. The girl appeared to be around Dagny's age and she had pale skin and dark brown hair that went down to her waist. She wore ragged clothes with an old belt at her waist. The top of her outfit was a dark blue and appeared to be a little small for her. The bottom half of her outfit was a somewhat long white skirt that had turned darker from the dirt near the bottom of the skirt and went down to her shins. "Tch…Can't get any good sweetrolls, in this skeeverhole of a city," she said in disgust. As the girl tried to put the fruit back on the stand, Dagny simply tossed them back down again and stepped on her hand with her green heel when she tried to reach for more. Ahmes couldn't look anymore as he walked up to Dagny with fury in her eyes. "Hey! Leave her alone!" Ahmes yelled as Dagny turned to him and narrowed her eyes. "Who are you? One of the new servants? Remember that I like my meat rare," she said smugly as she continued to crush the poor girl's hand. Ahmes had become red with rage, not only had she disrespected him, but she wouldn't stop hurting the girl because she didn't sell sweetrolls, which in itself was ridiculous behavior. He grabbed her arm forcefully and turned her to him, "now you listen here, you spoiled brat! I have half the mind-," Ahmes was interrupted as a blade of a nearby guard placed his blade under Ahmes' chin. Dagny released the girl's hand and placed all her attention on Ahmes. "Half the mind to do what, peasant?" she asked. Ahmes looked around and noticed that all the merchants and passerby's put all their attention on him. He wanted to do something, anything, but with a blade next to his neck, he knew that any move will end up with an open throat. He sighed and let go of her arm. As soon as his grip loosened, the nearby guard sheathed his sword and punched Ahmes straight in the gut with enough force to make him breathless. He keeled over from the hit and fell down to his knees, heaving for air. Dagny began to laugh as she spat on Ahmes, "Maybe next time you watch your tongue around a lady," she said in a snarky tone as she walked away with her guards following her. Ahmes couldn't stand people like her, those who believed they were better than everyone else just because they had a higher social standing. It reminded him of his childhood, where most kids his age were like that because of their noble families. They would often bully him and send him home with bruises all over his body to a worried mother. This time, just like every other time, he kept his anger in check, to not let this bring him down, just like always.

A few moments later, Ahmes felt the pain in his chest go away and the girl he helped assisted him to get on his feet. "Are you okay? That looked like it hurt," she asked. Her voice was very soft, Ahmes noticed, probably one of the softest sounding voices he had ever heard. "I'm sorry about that; I shouldn't have let you get involved in a stranger's quarrel. My name is Mila. Mila Valentia," she said as she shook Ahmes' hand. Ahmes smiled as he released his hand and scratched the back of his head, "No it's ok, it's not your fault," he said. "Mila! Mila!," a voice behind her yelled as a boy that looked to be the same age as Mila ran up to her. "Are you alright? I was going to help you, but there were too many people in the way," the boy said as he tried to catch his breathes. Ahmes looked behind the boy and noticed that there was no crowd in the direction the boy came from. _He's lying, but why?_ He asked himself before realizing the answer to his own question. _He was too afraid to do anything,_ he realized. "It's alright Lars, I am alright," she said with a soft smile. Lars sighed in relief as he turned to Ahmes. "Thank you for helping Mila, Dagny has always treated everyone who wasn't related to the Jarl like dirt. No one ever wanted to be around Dagny, she's almost as bad as Braith," he said. Ahmes turned to Lars, "No problem, I don't like it when people treat others like dirt just because they think they are better than them," he said as he looked back at Dagny's retreating form in the distance. "Man, she is one really spoiled brat," Ahmes stated while placing his hands on his hips. "I know she can be mean, but she can be very nice sometimes, you just have to be patient with her," Mila said. Lars looked at Mila and smiled warmly, "Leave it to you to see the good in people Mila," Lars said while ruffling her hair a little bit then awkwardly pulled his hand away in embarrassment.

"Lars! Where did you go you big baby?" a voice called out from where Lars came from. Lars groaned as a red guard woman appeared from the same path Lars ran out from. The young woman had dark skin and hair with similar clothes to Mila, but this girl wore a frown on her face instead of Mila's soft smile and the top of her ragged clothing was red opposed to Mila's blue. "What have I told you idiot! You shouldn't just go on your own for no reason. And just who the hell are you?," Braith asked while pointing an accusing finger at Ahmes. Ahmes' smile twitched as he realized what Lars had meant. "My name is Ahmes and I-," he was again interrupted as Braith raised her finger and shook her head. "Y'know what, I don't care," she said as she turned to Lars. "C'mon Lars, Vilkas was looking for us," she said as she grabbed the back of Lars' collar and dragging him away from Mila and Ahmes. "Where is she taking him?" Ahmes asked. Mila looked outward to the direction of Jorrvaskr, "To the Companions, Braith and Lars joined them a few months back. I can tell Lars doesn't want anything to do with the Companions, he hates fighting, but everyone won't treat him like a man until he makes a name for himself there. They have been calling him a milk drinker ever since he was a little kid. They think if he joined the Companions, he will toughen up and become a man," Mila said with a hint of sadness. "And Braith joined the Companions with him; she said it was because she wanted to get tougher, but I think it's because Braith loves Lars," she continued with a small chuckle. "Lars is always too oblivious to the fact that Braith bullies him because she likes him. Thankfully, she doesn't bully him that much anymore," she said as she turned to Ahmes. "Do you really think that is why she treats him like that? Looked to me that she saw Lars as a burden," Ahmes replied. Mila shook her head and watched the two figures disappear into Jorrvaskr. "And do you think Lars likes her back? I mean, he didn't seem happy when she called for him,"

"He'll come around, he likes her. He just doesn't know it yet." "You sure about that?," Ahmes asked with laughter in his voice. She shrugged as she walked back behind her fruit stand. Ahmes walked into front of the stand, "Well, I guess I'll buy some apples for the road then," he said pulling out some coin from his pocket. "Why thank you sir," she said while pulling out two scarlet red apples, "Finest, on the house. Least I can do for your help," she said with a hint of laughter in her voice as Ahmes placed the Septims on the stand anyway. "No need for that miss, I would gladly give you the coin. You definitely deserve it after what Dagny to your hand," he said as he held up her slightly bruised hand and gave it a close look. Mila pulled her hand away with a soft blush and handed the two apples to Ahmes, "Thank you Ahmes, I really appreciate it," she said as she collected her coin. Ahmes smiled widely as he turned towards Jorrvaskr and started a slow jog after looking back and waving good bye to Mila. She waved him good bye and watched his figure disappear behind Jorrvaskr before placing a hand on her chest and sighing, "Ahmes, what a nice name."

Chapter 8

The smell of meat and mead was thick in the air. The sounds of grunts and punches ran throughout the hall. A group of people stood in a small crowd in the middle of the hall and Ahmes decided to check out why. As he passed by the small crowd of warriors, the sounds of fists meeting skin became louder. When he was finally able to get a look, he was a little surprised. Braith had been fist fighting another woman, and both of them were covered in bruises. The woman she had been fighting was much older than her, and appeared to be in her forties. The woman was clad in a set of hide armor, with matching pairs of bracers and boots, as well as a hide helmet sitting on her head. White hair spread down from her head slightly past her shoulders and sweat began to drip down to her brow. He also noticed that Braith was also wearing hide armor instead of the red ragged dress she had been wearing before. "They are at it again?" a voice asked behind Ahmes. Ahmes ignored the voice, too captivated by the battle of experienced fighters. The woman made a right hook at Braith, but she ducked and made an upper cut to counter. The woman then used both arms to block, only to have Braith use her other fist to hit her while her face was wide open. Her fist collided with the woman's face and the woman staggered a bit before getting on her knees and fall face down to the floor. The crowd began to clap for the winner while Ahmes watched Braith help her opponent up from the ground and place her arm on her shoulders, supporting her up. "You have one hell of a punch kid," The woman said, impressed. "Yeah, you were definitely hard to beat Njada," she said with heavy breaths. The two woman laughed as they walked off together to tend to their injuries. Ahmes looked to his right and noticed Lars talking to one of the warriors, no doubt one of the Companions. The man Lars was talking to had gray hair that ran down to his shoulders. He wore a gray steel armor and had a large claymore strapped to his back. Ahmes made way to greet Lars, but a hand grasped his shoulder and forcibly turned him around. "Who are you? I haven't seen your face before," the dark elf who turned Ahmes around said. The dark elf had light brown hair and blood red eyes; his blue skin was as dark as night and he was wearing a hide armor that had two straps that crossed on the middle of his chest. He had a few gray hairs and wrinkles covered his face. Ahmes looked around and noticed some of the warriors eyes were on him. He suddenly became conscious of his surroundings and he tried to make words come out his mouth, however, those words became nonsense from the embarrassment that had gripped Ahmes. The dark elf stared at Ahmes with a confused look and eventually pushed Ahmes back. "If you're looking to join, talk to Vilkas, he is over there by the milk drinker," The dark elf said sternly while pointing to the direction Ahmes was walking towards in the first place before walking away as if the conversation never happened. Ahmes had become frustrated and he forced himself to not grit his teeth. Not only did the dark elf just rudely grab him to interrogate him, but he also just pushed Ahmes to the place back to where he was going to the first place. Not to the mention he called his new friend a milk drinker. The young man sighed in frustration and turned back to Lars and the man named Vilkas. Ahmes walked up to the two as they both turned to him. Lars had a worried look on his face and the man's eyes stared at Ahmes with a serious intensity. Ahmes assumed that the conversation the two had been serious. "Um, hi. My name is Ahmes and I was thinking if I could join the Companions?" Ahmes asked shyly. Ahmes had always wanted to join the Companions since he was a little kid. He knew that the life of a Companion was the life of adventure. When his mother told him stories of the Dragonborn and the Companions, he wanted to join that much more; the old man looked at Ahmes from his feet to his head and gave a skeptical look. Lars however smiled lightly, he was happy someone that he could relate to wanted to join the Companions. The old man gave a long sigh ran a hand through his gray hair. "Always the scrawny ones. Alright kid, if you want to join the Companions, you have to be worthy. You have to defeat one of us here in a fist fight," he said as he looked around for someone to fight Ahmes. Ahmes had become immediately nervous, he didn't want to have to hit anyone or take any tests to join; he really didn't think that he would have to prove himself worthy to join the Companions. Vilkas looked around until he saw Braith walk inside with bandages on her arms. Vilkas called her over and Ahmes began to become even more nervous. _Braith had just beaten a warrior who had years of training under her belt. Does Vilkas really think that fighting Braith would be a fair test?_ When Braith appeared before Vilkas, she gave Ahmes a small glare before asking what Vilkas wanted from her. "I want you to give this kid the test. I wanna see if he is worth," the old man said as he pointed his thumb to Ahmes. Braith gave a small mischievous smile and punched her hands together, "My pleasure," she said before chuckling darkly to herself. Lars gave Ahmes a sympathetic look as a small crowd began to form around them. The crowd began to whisper among themselves, "I bet the kid doesn't even last a minute" "Is that kid crazy? Doesn't he know Braith never lost?" Coin had been tossed around the crowd and the odds looked against Ahmes. Ahmes closed his eyes and made a long deep breathe to calm down. When he opened his eyes, all he focused on was the opponent before him. He knew that he was most likely going to lose, but he would be damned to take it sitting down. Braith raised her bandaged fists and Ahmes raised his in response. "Im gonna teach you a lesson you warrior wannabe." Ahmes glared at the girl in front of him. Ahmes had become impatient and attacked fist with a straight punch to her face. She dodged the attack and punched him in the gut. Ahmes toppled over and heaved for a moment before getting hit in the face by Braith. He stepped back a few paces and raised his fists again. One onlooker looked at Ahmes and was intrigued. The brawl between the two lasted for about five minutes until Braith made one more punch at Ahmes' face. Ahmes had been too slow and took the hit. His head reeled back and everything started to become dizzy. He could hear Braith laugh at him and punch him in the gut again. He fell to his knees and gasped for air. Blood and tears ran down his face, and pain could be felt all over his body. Just as Braith was about to make the final blow, something changed inside Ahmes. As blackness started to come into his vision and he could see the blurry image of Braith making the final blow, he envisioned her form and suddenly it had become the form of the black monster. Rage began to fuel Ahmes, rage from his own weakness, at the monster, at Braith, but especially at those who looked down on him and his dreams. He caught the fist with his palm and he swore he could hear the crowd gasp. He screamed to the top of his lungs and begun to constantly hit Braith over and over again. Soon the punches were enough to push her back through the door to the back of Jorrvaskr. Ahmes had made a right hook, but Braith blocked the attack and made one final punch to Ahmes' face. Ahmes flew back a few feet and landed on the hard ground with a thud. Ahmes' body refused to work with him, and he had sat down on the cold ground in pain and exhaustion. Braith scoffed and turned around. She walked back into Jorrvaskr and the crowd of Companions traded money to each other, fulfilling their bets. The crowd eventually dispersed and a figure walked up and looked down at Ahmes. "You really didn't think you could win could you? Its Braith, she's the toughest person I ever met," Lars said as he knelt down to Ahmes' level. Ahmes simply looked up at the sky and sighed. "No, I didn't, but I had to at least try. Does she always have to win?" Ahmes asked as he tried to lean back up. Lars shook his head, "No, she never losses. Well, She did once, but that was because she lost to me on purpose so I could join, don't know why though," Lars explained. Ahmes made a long sigh again and punched the ground in frustration. "Damnit! She was too strong! At this rate it'll be impossible to join the Companions," Ahmes yelled in frustration. Lars patted the young adventurer on the shoulder, "Look, its ok. If it's any consolation, you did better than most people did. If it were me, I probably would've gotten beaten up 2 minutes in." Ahmes made a weak smile at Lars. "Hey, are you ok?" a feminine voice asked from behind him. Ahmes looked up and saw a young girl with fiery red hair that was put up into a pony tail and went down to her waist with green eyes peer down at him. Ahmes was at a loss for words at the moment, the girl looking down at him was drop dead gorgeous. Her features were soft and she gave Ahmes a warm smile. Her face had a pale tone to it and her figure had been firm but still held womanly feel to it. She was wearing an animal hide, but her sleeves of the armor were made of a greenish cloth. The light armor had steel shoulder plates and shin plates with 3 steel plates on the bottom half of her armor from her waist. On her chest were 3 small steel pieces of metal that had emeralds that matched her eyes on them. A steel sword that was somewhat similar to Ahmes' hung loosely on her hip and a bow hung on her back. "She didn't hurt you too much did she? She always takes it too far when people try to join," the redhead said with a slight playfulness in her voice. Ahmes hid himself from her gaze under his black hair and quickly wiped his face so she wouldn't see the blood and tears. His face had taken a red tint from embarrassment and he couldn't think of anything to say. "S-sorry Claudia, Ahmes here is just a little upset that he lost. Don't worry about it," Lars said quickly with a slight stutter. The captivating girl knelt down to Ahmes' level and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Actually, I was watching out there and I wanted to tell you that you did really well. Not just anyone can push Braith like that. Not even I could really do well in a fist fight against her," Claudia said with a warm and sincere voice. Ahmes' face turned to a large smile and he scratched the back of his neck while he laughed. "Thanks, I tried really hard too. I'll just have to try harder next time," Ahmes said looking up at Claudia. Claudia put her hand out in front of Ahmes. "I'm Claudia, nice to meet you." Ahmes smiled, "Likewise." "So, you're gonna try again? Y'know you are going to train your ass off right?" Lars asked while Claudia raised Ahmes to his feet. Ahmes looked up in thought and thought of an idea. "Maybe I can help," Claudia said red hair whipping as she turned to the two boys. The two looked at her in question and she looked away from their eyes and holding her arm with the other in embarrassment. "Well I was thinking I could train you. I could tell you really wanted to beat her and I thought that maybe…I can train you a bit," she said with a small blush. Ahmes turned to her excitedly,

"Really? You'll help me get stronger?" Claudia smiled. "If you'll have me" Ahmes nodded enthusiastically with a large smile plastered on his face. "Alright then, meet me back here at 6 pm. Ok?" the red head said. "Got it, meet you here at 6" She turned and waved goodbye to Ahmes, "Alright, see you then," she said as she walked away and back into Jorrvaskr.

Chapter 9

The sounds of fists meeting skin and the grunts of two people sparring filled the night's silence. Ahmes had been sparring and training with Claudia for hours. Sitting a small distance away from their spar, Lars saw cross-legged on the stone floor, reading a book. Claudia made a series of punches that were too fast for Ahmes, so he decided to fight fire with fire and attack her head on. Several failed attempts later, Ahmes found himself on his ass yet again. "You have to do better if you want to beat Braith!" Claudia yelled while dodging more of Ahmes' attacks, only to counter and have Ahmes fall on his ass again. _This is getting nowhere! If I can't beat Claudia, there is no way in hell I'll beat Braith,_ Ahmes thought in frustration. Sat up from the ground and motioned to time out with his hands and taking a seat next to Lars to see what he was reading. "No matter what I do, I can't win," Ahmes said depressed. Lars stopped what he was reading to look at his friend, "Look, if you want to beat Braith it will take time, whining about it will get you nowhere," Lars said before going back to his book. Ahmes clicked his tongue, "Easy for you to say," he said bitterly before getting back up and turning to Claudia. "Is there any way I can beat Braith, like any secret moves or something?" Ahmes asked. Claudia chuckled lightly with an angelic voice, "Sorry, it's not that easy, if it were, the halls of Jorrvaskr would be overflowing with people by now" Ahmes sighed and crossed his arms, going into deep thought. Ne nodded and turned back to Claudia, "Alright, let's try it again," he said with determination. The two went back to sparring and Lars watched, again Ahmes fell on his ass. "Damnit!"

Braith had been watching the two brawl for a few hours now, she had gone out for some last minute training when she had accidently stumbled on the group. "I know you're getting frustrated, but you must keep trying!" Claudia said. She had been impressed with the fast development Ahmes was making, but she paid very little mind to it. All she cared about was Lars. She had watched him reading and she couldn't look away. She felt awkward about watching her crush read; it made her feel like a stalker. But she honestly couldn't help herself, she was in love. She noticed the sudden interest Claudia had in Ahmes, and wondered what kind of potential Claudia saw in him. She shrugged the thought off when she saw Lars give a surprised look; no doubt he had read a twist in the book he had been reading. _By the Nine, what am I doing? I should just talk to him…No, he probably hates me for all the years I had picked on him. Maybe if I sit with him, I can get closer and we can learn more about each other…No,he probably wants nothing to do with me_ , she thought. Braith's internal struggle continued until she noticed Claudia and Ahmes sparring had intensified. Ahmes had started to make better hits and he started to dodge faster. _Not bad, but not enough to take me._ Ahmes was moving faster and faster until he swiped Claudia's legs from under her and she had finally fell on her butt like Ahmes did the entire time. Seconds later, Ahmes had jumped into the air and screamed, "I did it!" Braith inwardly scoffed, _Idiot._ Claudia smiled at the black haired adventurer as he helped her get back up to her feet. Braith was surprised that the boy was able to beat someone that even she had a hard time beating. They two sparring partners sat down next to her crush and they had all started conversing. _I wish I could do that, to be able to talk to him without being afraid. That would be nice._

"What do you think? You guys think I have any chance at beating Braith? Honestly," Ahmes asked looking to his two friends. "Well…yeah, no…you have no chance," Lars laughed. Braith inwardly brightened from the knowledge Lars knew how strong she was, even if he didn't know she was there. "What! Cmon man! Well how about you Claudia? You think you have a chance?" Ahmes turned to Claudia who looked back at him with a warm smile. "If you think you can, then you will." Ahmes' head hung low, "That's not what I wanted to hear," he said sulkily. Lars laughed as he lightly punched his friend's arm. "Don't worry about it, it doesn't even matter if you beat Braith or not. All you got to do is beat any Companion, so you don't have to-" "No, it has to be Braith, I need to prove myself" "To who, the Companions?" Ahmes shook his head, "I need to do this for me, if I don't, how can ever travel the world? No it has to be her," fire burned in his eyes. Claudia looked at Ahmes in shock before turning away, hiding the blush from her face. Braith was intrigued with the reaction Claudia gave to the black haired boy. _Is that why she wanted to help him?_ The moment had been ruined when Ahmes yelped in surprise. "What's wrong?," Claudia asked. "I just realized! I don't have a place to stay! I was going to rent a room, but I got sidetracked! I am such an idiot!" Braith face palmed while Lars and Claudia sweat dropped. Lars gave a tired sigh, "Its fine, you can just stay with my family for the night. I doubt they won't mind," he said.

"By the Nine! This place is so huge!" Ahmes exclaimed while looking through the Battleborn household. "This place used to be a lot smaller when I was a kid, but when I became sixteen, my family decided to use the money they got from the farm to expand the house." Lars explained as they walked through the halls of the Battleborn home. Lars led Ahmes to the guest room and Ahmes made himself at home. He lay back on his bed and called out to Lars as he was about to retire for the night. "Thanks for everything, I mean. You didn't have to take me in," Ahmes said as Lars grew a large smile. "It's the least I could do. You have been one of the kindest people I have ever met. I mean, you didn't judge me because I don't fight or call me a milk drinker. I know people call me it when Braith isn't around, hell even my parents call me milk drinker. But you, you never once treated me with any disrespect. Aside from Mila and Claudia, you are probably one of my best friends," Lars said, making Ahmes speechless. "I-I don't know what to say." "It's the truth. Hey do me a favor… make sure you beat up Braith for the both of us. She was always a cruel girl growing up, and I think she should learn a lesson." Ahmes chuckled," we both know I won't be able to even get a scratch on her." "Either way, just promise me you will do your best." "I don't need you to tell me to do my best Battleborn," they both laughed lightly and told each other good night. Ahmes had looked up at the ceiling and recalled everything that had happened so far. Even though he hasn't travelled all around the world yet, he had already met lifelong friends. This was exactly what he wanted when he wanted to become an adventurer. He fell asleep that night with dreams of even more adventures and finally seeking revenge on the black demon for the Hunt.

Chapter 10

Lars had awoken to the sound of birds chirping, punching, and followed by the sound of something getting hit. Lars opened his eyes and put the book that lay on his face and placed it to the table beside the bed. He walked carefully to the source of the noise, trying to be as silent as he can so he doesn't wake up any of his family. He looked out the nearest window and saw Ahmes training by punching a dummy made of straw. Lars lightly smiled to himself and walked out the nearest door to greet his friend. "Ahmes! How long have you been up?" he asked walking over to his friend. "Good morning to you to Lars," Ahmes said sarcastically while turning to him. Lars rolled his eyes and gave mumbled good morning back to his friend. "I have been up for a few hours now, thought I would get some practice in before I challenge Braith," he said before going back to punching the straw dummy. "Wait-what? You're going to fight Braith today? Ahmes, you aren't even close to being ready, have you lost your mind?" Lars asked while Ahmes kept punching away. Ahmes smiled, "Nope, I got a good feeling about today. Today is gonna be the day I join the Companions," Ahmes said with confidence. Lars couldn't believe what he was hearing; Ahmes was going to risk getting beaten up again cause of a feeling? He was going to get his ass kicked faster than anyone can make any bets. "Alright! You ready?" Ahmes said while punching his fists together. "What? Are you serious? You want to fight her now? I thought you were crazy before, but by the Nine, you really lost your mind have you?" Lars asked as Ahmes smiled without a single care. "No-no-no-no-no, were going to find Claudia, she'll knock some sense into you one way or another."

"What do you mean he should do it?! Am I the only one who hasn't lost their mind?" Lars asked to no one in particular. "Look, if he thinks he can beat her, then all we can do is support him," Claudia implored. "It's not that I'm saying that he shouldn't do it…no wait, that's exactly what I'm saying!" Ahmes placed his hand on Lars shoulder to calm him down. "Hey, if I win I win, if I lose I lose. I have to at least give it a shot." "That's not the point, last time you gotten beaten up so much that you still got some bruises on your face. I just…I just don't want to see you get hurt, your my friend," Lars said looking down at the ground in shame. Lars knew that his friend was going to get hurt, but he knew that no matter what he said, it was Ahmes' decision to go and fight Braith. Ahmes gave a reassuring smile to Lars; Lars looked up to Ahmes and noticed the confident burn in his eyes. _Is this what Claudia saw in him? Is this why she helped him?_ He nodded and smiled back. Lars resigned with a long sigh, if Ahmes can look at the challenge with those eyes, maybe, just maybe he can do it. The group walked together and stood in the front of the doors of Jorrvaskr. "Wait!" Ahmes called out before they could open the doors. "I have an idea, but you guys have to follow along," Ahmes said with a glint in his eyes. The two Companions gave each other a look before looking back at Ahmes.

Braith had gotten up early that morning. She had wanted to get an early start to try and get some missions before anyone else. If she kept this up she would be initiated into the Circle. About a month ago, Vilkas had mentioned the Circle to her and told that if she had continued to impress him, she would be allowed to join the Circle, like Claudia did before her. She had no idea what being in the Circle entrained, but she wanted in. She noticed that many of the other Companions had the same idea as her and came early. She didn't know if any of them knew of the Circle, since it was supposed to be a secret. She had been wondering where Claudia had been this entire time. _She is usually just as early as I am._ Suddenly a loud bang echoed throughout the hall as the front doors of Jorrvaskr. Standing outside was Ahmes with his leg still up in the air from kicking the door. Beside him were Lars and Claudia with confused faces as Ahmes put his leg down and crossed his arms while trying to get into a pose. A few moments of silence passed before Ahmes turned around and noticed his friends weren't crossing their arms in a pose like he was, "Awwww c'mon guys you were supposed to follow my lead," Ahmes whined. Braith sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. _How did this joker get Lars to help him in the first place?_ She asked herself. "I'm sorry, but you didn't make any indication you wanted us to make a pose. All you said was follow my lead," Claudia said. "Kinda vague really," Lars replied. "A-alright, just *sigh* just go over there, okay? By the Nine," Ahmes said in tired frustration. Ahmes then turned to Braith and pointed at her, "Braith! I challenge you!" He yelled dramatically. Braith made a tired sigh as she continued to pinch the bridge of her nose. "Are you serious? You know you can't win, If you just keep challenging me, you'll never become a Companion," Braith said while walking towards Ahmes with a crowd beginning to surround the two. Ahmes nodded, "This time I'm going to beat you. I can feel it," Ahmes said, confidence written all over his face. Braith raised her fists up; _I'm going to knock that smile off your face._

The fight had been going on now for at least 5 minutes, and neither combatant had gotten the advantage just yet. _How is this possible? Only yesterday he wasn't able to last 5 minutes against me. Now he is actually holding his own. Just how strong is he?_ Braith wondered. She couldn't believe anyone could have this much talent, to be able to grow and adapt in strength so fast it was unreal. _Had it been Claudia's training? Is she that good of a teacher? No, the training definitely helped, his movements are really similar to hers. But, this was from his own ability to learn._ Ahmes had dodged three fast punches that aimed his face in record speed and countered with a left hook. Braith dodged it by ducking and prepared to do an uppercut like she had done against Njada. _Rookie mistake,_ she thought as she threw her punch upward. However, her attack had stopped abruptly due to Ahmes' arms grabbing her own and using the force she created against her by redirecting her movements to the floor. Her eyes grew wide from the sudden development but she quickly went with the redirection and did a dodge roll out of Ahmes' grasp. Ahmes was impressed that she was able to counter his strategy so well while only being exposed to it once. _What the fuck was that?_ Braith inwardly screamed. She had no idea how he was able to do that, but it completely threw her off. She had been lucky that she adapted so fast otherwise she would've lost. A sudden realization had hit her like a brick wall. _I almost lost, he actually almost beat me._ Ahmes grinned when she noticed it and she had attacked him with even greater force. The idea of losing to him was unbearable to her and she wouldn't have it. She quickly looked into the crowd and noticed that Lars had been watching, but a frown decorated her face as soon she realized that Lars had been rooting for Ahmes. Her gaze quickly turned fierce and towards her opponent. _He wants to see you lose._ _He will never love you_ , repeated in her mind over and over again. Her attacks became less accurate, but more fierce. Ahmes knew if he got hit once, it was over, thankfully her attacks were too random and slow to get the one hit she needed. Ahmes ducked and saw her knee coming for his face. He quickly dodged and swooped for her legs, only to have her grab his leg and push him away. Ahmes quickly got on his feet and knew the last attack would decide the match. Ahmes moved forward, ready to hit her at the same time she moved to him to finish him. Time seemed to slow down as the two got closer and closer, with their fists reaching each other's faces. In the very last second, Ahmes moved his head slightly to the right and Braith's fist missed him by an inch. However, Ahmes' fist collided with Braith's face and she fell limp on the ground unconscious. Seconds of silence passed before Ahmes raised his arms up and cheering. No one could believe their eyes, Braith beaten, by a boy no less? Surprised was an understatement. Seconds after Ahmes declared his victory, exhaustion finally caught up with him and he fell down to his knees. Claudia and Lars had picked him up by placing his arms around their shoulders as they dragged him to the lower level of Jorrvaskr to tend to his injuries.

"By the Nine! You did it Ahmes! I can't believe it!" Lars said in disbelief. Ahmes chuckled as Claudia wrapped more bandages on Ahmes' bruised covered arms. Ahmes winced in pain from the pressure of the bandages. "Yea, I didn't think I would win too. But there was this moment where I almost had her, and when she realized it. We both knew it was over," Ahmes said looking at the ground in thought. He also noticed Braith get distracted for a moment, but he couldn't figure out why. Her eyes, something was off, he could tell. He shook off the thought as he heard Vilkas walk through the door to the lower level of Jorrvaskr. "That was one hell of a fight kid, I haven't seen anyone move that fast, let alone beat Braith," Vilkas said, impressed. "Thank you sir," "You said you wanted to join the Companions? You are more than worthy to join us," the old man said as he reached his hand out to Ahmes to shake. Ahmes grabbed his hand and shook, "Congratulations kid, you are here by officially part of the Companions," Vilkas said as he let go of Ahmes' hand. A large grin spread across Ahmes' face from the good news, but something had worried him. "Is Braith okay? Something seemed wrong with her," Ahmes asked with concern in his voice. Vilkas seemed surprised that Ahmes would care about his opponent's condition, but suppressed his surprise in an instant. He nodded, "She will be alright, she just needs some rest. I suggest you get some too, your first mission starts tomorrow," he said as he turned and walked away. Lars had turned to Ahmes in excitement, "You hear that? You're in! You-" he stopped as he noticed Ahmes' gaze on the ground. He looked to Claudia in confusion, but she could only shrug in response. Ahmes shook his head, "Something isn't right. Lars I need you to do me a favor," Ahmes said as he raised his head and looked Lars in the eyes. Lars could tell what Ahmes wanted from him was important. "I need you to-."

Braith had sat alone in the corner of the main hall of Jorrvaskr for a while now. Ever since her loss, she couldn't help but feel terrible. She knew she needed rest from the fight, but all she could do was sit at the table. Not only had she lost in front of the person she cared about most of all, but he had wanted her to lose. _I'm such an idiot. How could I ever believe I had a chance? He hates me_ ; _he probably has feeling for Mila or Claudia. He would rather be with them than me, a loser._ Her thoughts of self-hatred and depression were starting to bring her down until a voice in front of her cleared his throat. Lars sat down in front of her, "Hey, are you okay? Ahmes wanted me to check up on you," he said in concern. Braith was happy that Lars was worried about her, until he mentioned that it was Ahmes who wanted to know if she was okay, not him. "I'm fine, leave me alone," she said bitterly. "You don't seem fine, hey if there is anything you want to talk about, tell me." Braith was happy Lars had said that, he always looked out for people, even if they did something terrible to you before. It's one of the things Braith loved about Lars. Braith wanted to tell him everything, right then and there, but she couldn't. She knew he didn't love her back. She shook her head as Lars stood from his seat, "Well, if you ever want to talk about it, you know where to find me. But I might not be in town tomorrow; I'm going to go help Ahmes with his first Companion mission. Even if he doesn't want me to come," he laughed. Braith inwardly debated again if she wanted to tell him the truth, only to resign to herself and decide to tell him once he got back. Lars walked away and went back down to the lower level of Jorrvaskr. Braith watched his back as he walked away and firmed her resolve to tell him that she loved him soon. She was going to wait for the right opportunity.

Chapter 11

The next morning, Ahmes and Lars went to Jorrvaskr and received their first mission. They were to go to the outskirts of Whiterun and kill a bear that had been terrorizing some of the farmers for the past few days. It was a small mission that didn't really require both of them to go, but Lars insisted. He wanted to help his new friend with his first mission, and nothing was going to stop him. Lars suggested that they took the horses to get there. He knew walking would take too much time, and they both wanted this mission done as soon as possible. However, Ahmes was worried that the bear would hear their horses and it would run away if they got close enough, but he ignored that thought. Preferring to get their as fast as possible. The two had stayed on horseback for a couple miles, both of them had swords on their hips and Battleborn sigil on their wodden shields. Lars had given Ahmes some regular iron armor, knowing that they were most likely going to need it. When Ahmes asked if it was to keep, Lars smiled and told him to take it as a gift for becoming a Companion. The cold air nipped at their skin and it had become slightly harder to see as snow began to fall down lightly. "So, about Braith," Ahmes said as Lars turned to look back at him with confusion written all over his face. "What about Braith?" he asked, confused Ahmes' change of topic. "Y'know she's in love with you right? It's really obvious," Ahmes said with a hint of humor. Lars' face had become dark red from the idea that any girl would like him. "I doubt it; she has been bullying me ever since I was a kid. It was only when we got a little older when the bullying died down a little. Even then she always calls me names," he said unconvinced. "No really, she does. Why do you think she bullied you in the first place? It's because she is in love with you," Ahmes implored. Lars really had no interest in the Redguard woman, he only really ever saw her as a friend, but the idea that she liked him confused him. It just didn't make any sense, _why bully someone you're in love with?_ He asked himself. His thought was interrupted when he suddenly felt a pull at his leg drag him down into the snow. He began to panic as he could hear bandits laugh around them and pull down Ahmes from his horse as well. Both boys reasoned that it was the snow that made them not notice the bandits as they both unsheathed their swords and wore their shields.

Lars estimated that there were around six of them based on the sounds of feet and metal that clanged through the air. Lars had to fight two of them at the same time, and he was having trouble trying to fight at least one of them off. He had already taken a few hits, and moving had become difficult in the snow. Ahmes was fighting three of them off, and he had already killed one of them when he was knocked of his horse. When the bandits had attacked, both of their horses had run off to Divines knows where. Ahmes had taken a few hits, but they were mostly shallow. His opponents were in worse shape than he was, and he had faced worse than these bandits. He had survived the Hunt! There was no way he was going down as long as Lars was with him. His train of thought was interrupted when he heard a cry of pain in the cold air. He looked to where Lars was and saw that the two men were on top of him, beating him up. The distraction caused one of the bandits to take the opportunity and tackle Ahmes to the ground. After struggling for a few minutes, the three men were able to get him to his knees. When he looked to where Lars was, he noticed that he too was on his knees at their mercy. All the men drew their daggers from their belts and Ahmes could see the intense fear form in Lars' eyes. Ahmes had tried to struggle again, but one of the men pushed his face into the dirt and he looked up to check on Lars.

Lars couldn't move. He was paralyzed in fear. When the light from their dagger could be seen, his heart slammed into his chest. He instantly knew what these men were going to do. They were going to kill them and take all their possessions, or worse. He watched Ahmes struggle, only to have his face knocked into the dirt. Lars looked into Ahmes' eyes and could still see fire in them, he still didn't give up. Even in this situation. He could give up either, not now. Just when his conviction fired up, he felt a cold blade touch his neck.

Ahmes looked up in fear as one of the Bandits wore a sadistic smile while pressing his blade against Lars' throat. Ahmes called out, "La-" The bandits blade interrupted Ahmes' call as it pressed into Lars' throat. The blade started to move across Lars' neck slowly and dark red blood poured out of his throat. Lars had let out a blood curdling scream from the pain. Ahmes looked on in horror as his friend was screaming his last breathe. Ahmes sat there in shock and fear, he could only watch as his friend died in front of him. More blood continued to pour out his throat as the bandits laughed sadistically. The scream had then gone silent as blood poured out Lars' mouth. His eyes wide with fear as the bandit's blade was released from the other side of his throat. Lars' body fell in front of Ahmes and he could see the light leave his eyes. His dark, fear filled eyes would never leave Ahmes'. The bandits laughed as they lifted Ahmes to his knees. Images of blood and death raced through his minds. The black demon looking down at him could be seen again in his mind's eye. He felt just as helpless and scared as then. The bandit's blade inched closer to his throat as he looked down at Lars' dead body once more. He couldn't feel anything, his body had become numb. Then, almost out of nowhere rage filled the gaps of Ahmes' mind. His sight turned harsh and cold, no longer did the helpless eyes of a boy remained. Something new replaced it, the look of a killer emerged. The bandits continued to laugh until Ahmes began to scream. Fire erupted from Ahmes' body in an explosion of fury, covering himself and the bandit that held him. Screams from the flames could be heard right behind him as the bandit let go of him and fell to the ground on fire and in pain. Ahmes slowly stood up on to his two feet. The other bandits stepped back when the fire touched their skin. They began to continue to step back, ready to run away from the monster they had unleashed. Ahmes stared down at Lars' corpse once more in a blank expression. "I'll use everything," he said in a whisper. "TO KILL YOU!" he screamed as the remaining bandits made a run for it. Flames erupted from Ahmes' palms and covered the bandits in an explosion of flame. He screamed from the top of his lungs as fire began to spread more and more. The flames extended forward and completely melted the bandits as they tried to get away. The remaining bandits attacked Ahmes in blind fear. Ahmes side stepped their attacks and slashed at them with everything he had, killing them. He noticed the last bandit trying to crawl away from him. Ahmes calmly walked over to him and set fire to the man's legs. The man screamed in pain as the flames licked his skin. Ahmes lifted the man by the back of his collar and looked at him with his face covered by his hair. The man struggled in his fiery grip and begged for mercy. As the flames began to die down a bit, the bandit almost sighed in relief before Ahmes lifted his face to look at him. His face had transformed into a sadistic smile that spread from ear to ear as he began to chuckle. Soon, that chuckle turned into maniacal laughter as he slowly slid his sword through the man's mouth. The pain was too unbearable for the bandit and he died screaming. Ahmes pulled his sword from the man's throat and looked back to Lars' corpse. He slowly walked back to him with a limp and eventually fell to his knees. He started to scream as loud as he could in grief and agony. He smashed at the ground over and over, fire erupting from his fists each time. The snow kept falling down from the sky and began to coat Ahmes and Lars' corpse in a small coat of snow. Ahmes had lifted Lars' body and walked back to Whiterun with his spirit and pride completely broken.

Braith had been practicing ever since this morning, Lars had already left for his mission with Ahmes, meaning she were left with herself and her thoughts. She had been interrupted by the sound of someone clearing their throat. She looked back and saw Claudia, who gave her a big smile and a small wave. She returned the gesture reluctantly. "Hey Claudia, how are you?" the redhead stood next to the Redguard and started to practice on the straw dummy with her sword. "It's all well and good, there is something I wanted to talk about," she said shyly while rubbing her arm with her other. The redguard's brow lifted up in confusion. "I wanted to know, you are in love with Lars correct?" Braith looked back to her straw target and punched away, "So what? You gonna fight me over him or something?" she asked bitterly. Claudia raised her hands up in defense with a red tint on her face, "No no no, nothing like that. I don't like him like that. I just wanted to know why you haven't told him yet." Braith didn't like where this was going. "Why would I? Not like he'll say that he loves me too," the Redguard said, her punches becoming heavier. "You should tell him. If you don't, he will never look at you the way you want. He deserves to at least know. And besides, he would be an idiot if he said he didn't," Claudia said with a warm smile. Braith could tell she was trying to make her feel better, lately things haven't been going her way. Maybe she should tell him. She had wanted to tell him soon anyways, why not tell him when he came back? She steeled her resolve and nodded. "Alright. I'll do it," she said as she turned and smiled at Claudia, "Thanks," she said quickly before going back to training. _Maybe he'll accept my feelings? If not, I'll just try harder._ She couldn't wait for Lars to get back home.

Chapter 12

The walk to Whiterun had been a long one, probably the longest walk Ahmes had ever walked in his entire life. It had become night when he finally passed through the front gates. Dried blood had covered his hands and all over his friend. He didn't know where to go, he didn't want his family see their son like this. He didn't want anyone to see him like this. Each step had gotten heavier, but he eventually saw Jorrvaskr. The light inside told him that there were no doubt people inside. He slowly opened the main hall doors with his heart hammering in his chest and tears running down his eyes. The doors slowly opened and all eyes turned to him. He hid his face under his bangs. He couldn't let them see him cry. The hall had become instantly quiet when they saw him; it had taken a few moments to register what was in his hands. The Companions had rushed over to him at the moment what had happened registered in their minds. Panic had spread like wildfire. "Is he alright?" "Ahmes what happened?" "What's wrong with him?" "Is he…?" The questions were rushed at him all at once. But he remained silent, completely ignoring everyone. He could hear the sound of punching and grunting outside. She had to know, but should she see the body? Right as Ahmes tried to decide if she should see him or not, someone beat him to it and rushed out back. Moments later Ahmes could see Braith and Claudia open the doors frantically. They rushed to him and looked at the boy's corpse. Braith had started to wail like a child and Claudia's face became pale. She turned away, not believing what she was seeing. Braith had taken the body from Ahmes and sprinted outside with tears in her eyes and snot running down her nose. No doubt she was bringing the body to his parents. As soon the noise of frantic wailing became a whisper, Ahmes fell to his knees. He began to cry hysterically. Tears fell to the ground and he started to punch the floor over and over, little flames bouncing from his fist with each strike. "I c-c-could've saved him. I was too weak. H-h-h-he was so scared." Ahmes could still see the pleading eyes of his friend as they cut his throat. Their laughter and screams rung through his mind, as if he were hearing them right now. He kept on crying until someone helped him up to his feet and brought him down to the lower levels of Jorrvaskr. When he sat down on the bed in the lower levels, he could feel the weight of another person sit next to him. He was then pulled into a tight hug as he cried into the person's shoulder. He looked up and saw that it was Claudia, she held him as tight as she could. "It's okay. Shhhh, calm down," she whispered into his ears before her words were replaced by small sobs. Ahmes' grip became tighter around her in an attempt to give some form of comfort to Claudia. Tears ran down Claudia's eyes as her grip on him became tighter. Claudia noticed that Ahmes felt warm, warmer than anyone else she had ever touched. "I-I-I'm so sorry. I couldn't-" Ahmes cried before Claudia raised his head up to look up at her. They looked into each other grieve stricken eyes for a moment. Ahmes' eyes became blank, lifeless, but deep down all that remained was grief and anger. Claudia was frightened by his eyes; she had never seen that expression before. The look of utter defeat, of complete sadness, and eyes that burned in vengeance. Ahmes looked away from her and stood up on his own. He quickly wiped away his own tears and walked away in a rush away from her. He had to be away from her, from everyone. He couldn't let anyone see him in this state. He eventually left Jorrvaskr to find a quiet place to be alone.

Braith had wished this was all one big bad dream, that she would wake up and Lars would be fine. But she knew that it wasn't, it was reality. The one person she cared about most in her life was gone, and now he lay in her arms covered in dried blood and her tears. Everything was numb, and the rest of the world didn't matter. Her best friend was gone and she couldn't do anything about it. She had left his body to his family. When they saw him, grief and sadness overwhelmed them, and she quickly ran away from them. She wouldn't be able to take it if she saw them grieve for him. She didn't want to spend a single second next to his corpse; it only reminded her of the fact that Lars was gone. She didn't know where to go; all she knew was that she wanted to be anywhere but there. She noticed Ahmes walk past her with his bangs covering his eyes and a deep frown decorating his face. As soon as he sped past her, Braith's rage had begun to overwhelm her. She turned to Ahmes' direction and followed him for a few minutes until she caught up to him. She quickly caught him by the wrist and spun him around to face her. As he turned, his face met her fist and he toppled to the ground. Braith looked down at him in utter rage and discontent. "What happened?! Why is he dead?!" she screamed. Ahmes could only keep his gaze down and stay silent. He refused to tell her just how horrendous Lars' death really was. She knelt down to his level and grabbed him by the collar. She then proceeded to shake him back and forth in a blind frenzy, "Why couldn't you save him? You were able to beat me, so why couldn't you save him? I loved him!" Ahmes could only continue to look at the ground in shame. He knew that whatever excuse he made, it wouldn't be enough. He failed Lars and he failed Braith. Braith then started to hit Ahmes in the face over and over again. She straddled him as she smashed his face into the ground over and over. She noticed that his face was wet and was burning hot. When she let out some of her frustration, she stood up and looked down at Ahmes. He curled up into a ball and sobbed quietly. She thought that it would make her feel better, but it didn't. Her face gave a blank expression, not happy, not sad, and not disgusted. Only a depressing blank now etched her face. Her cold stare intensified as she looked upon the sorry state of the boy that had failed her. "It should've been you," she said coldly as she walked away.

When Ahmes knew Braith was no longer there, he slowly got up and crawled away. He didn't know which direction he was going, nor did he care. What Braith said shook him to the core, and broke his heart. _It should've been you_ , played in his head over and over. He eventually found a random corner of a wall. And stared at it mindlessly, playing the recent events over in his mind continuously. He wished he could've done something different. He wished he could've saved Lars. He wished that he could've stayed with Claudia. He wished he had said something to Braith. He wished Dorthe was here with him. He wished that he was home, and had begun to regret the adventure. Most of all, above all else, he wished he had said goodbye to Lars.

Braith had been wandering Whiterun for hours with a blank expression on her face. Everywhere she went she saw Lars. When she passed by the Plains District she remembered the times she bullied Lars until a man convinced her to stop. She shook her head, she was so foolish then. _Battle-Born! Give me your money!_ The memory replayed in her mind. She passed the stairs where another memory played out in her mind, _just go away!_ A younger Lars screamed before running away, breaking her heart yet again. _Braith I…I've come to tell you that I'm not afraid of you anymore,_ she admired his bravery. Then she walked into the Wind District, where another memory played into her mind, _Tag your it!...Awww no fair_ Braith fought back a sob and continued to keep walking forward. Each step felt heavy and tired, memories or her times with Lars played all around her in instants. It gave her a small headache and she made a long sigh. She stopped in front of the Gildergreen. Its branches looked dead now to her, even though bright flowers bloomed all over it. She gave a small smile as she looked up in another memory that played in her mind; she was sitting with Lars as they watched the sunset. It was one of the happiest times of her life. She knew that Lars probably would never love her, but she really couldn't help it. He was smart, brave, kind, handsome; everything she ever wanted in a person, Lars fulfilled each quality perfectly. Now he was gone, and she felt empty. She looked up at the Gildergreen again and one more small, empty smile graced her lips.

Chapter 13

Ahmes had awoken to the sound of someone screaming. His eyes shot open and he quickly stood up while unsheathing his sword. He noticed no one was around him and quickly sheathed the sword back into its scabbard. He realized that he had cried himself to sleep in front of a random stone corner. He slowly followed the scream, and eventually found a large crowd of people stare up at the Gildergreen. He followed their gaze and became paralyzed in fear. Up in the Gildergreen, was Braith's dead body, winging back and forth with a rope tied around her neck. _It should've been you_. Ahmes fell to his knees at the sight. Braith's face was pale white, despite having dark skin, and blue lips. Her eyes were wide open and bloodshot. Ahmes could tell that her suicide was long and slow. He looked away to the ground as soon as he could. He could feel the last shred of humanity he had left him as more tears fell down his face. _It should've been you._ He could hear the weeping of the people in front of the tree, and the sound of a rope being cut and her body being brought down. He could hear Claudia call out his name, but he ignored it. He didn't deserve to be in her presence, this was his fault. Lars and Braith were gone because he wasn't strong enough. He could feel Claudia raise his head up to look at her. Tears ran down her eyes and black bags could be distinguished on her beautiful face. He could tell she had gotten no sleep last night. _It should've been you._ Claudia called his name out to him again, but now it sounded no more than a whisper. "Sh-She. Braith. She. I-. No," Ahmes said with a depressed voice. Claudia hugged Ahmes tightly and sobbed his name. He raised his arms behind her back, debating if he should hug her back, but suddenly decided he shouldn't. He was afraid that if he had hugged her back, he would lose her too, and he would feel even worse. Claudia cried into his shoulder as he looked behind her, noticing some of the people of Whiterun look back at him. Some gave him eyes of sympathy, but others…others held eyes of discontent. They thought it was his fault too. He closed his eyes as tight as he could, hoping that he would wake up and that he would be back at Lars' house, sleeping like a baby. He wanted his friends back, he wanted this all to be over, but life wasn't like that. Instead, he tried to force tears to fall out his eyes, but he couldn't. He had run out of tears, only the numbness remained. He stood up and pulled away from Claudia. Claudia noticed that his eyes were the same as the night before. He tried to speak, but no words could come out. Claudia wished he would say something, anything, but he closed his mouth and shook his head in shame. He looked down to the ground and grit his teeth, this wasn't fair. _That selfish bastard! Why couldn't she see that there were people who cared about her?_ He thought wildly. He had become ashamed the very second the thought entered his mind. There was no point in cursing the dead. Claudia looked into Ahmes' eyes; she had been hurting so much. Ahmes needed to help her, but if he had any chance of helping her. He would have to bury his own sadness, he resolved. He hugged Claudia tightly and she cried into his shoulder. He looked back at those that looked at him with disgust and sent back a glare that burned an intense anger. They turned away before making their leave.

"Before the ancient flame…We grieve,"

"At these losses…we weep,"

"For the fallen…we shout,"

"And for ourselves…We take our leave," each of the Companions recited before Claudia set the wooden logs on fire. Sitting on top of the logs was Lars and Braith's corpses. The flame burned brightly in the night, as Ahmes stared into the fire blankly. Claudia suggested members of the Circle to go to the Underforge, and grieve for their dead. Many of the Companions followed her and others left on their own. Ahmes had been left alone with his thoughts. Flames danced in Ahmes' eyes and he stared blankly into the fire. He wanted to be alone right now. He couldn't believe this happened, one day everything was fine, he finally joined the Companions. One of his dreams had been realized, but now that dream had felt empty. This dream wasn't worth it if it meant his friend's deaths. He thought about everything that had led him to this moment. He had no idea how many hours it has been before someone made their presence behind him. "The Jarl wishes to see you," Nelkir said with a stern voice. Ahmes made no intention to turn around, "What does he want?," Ahmes asked bitterly. He was in no mood to talk to anyone. "He wishes to discuss his plans and concerns about the Hunt. You shouldn't keep the Jarl waiting," Nelkir said as he stared into the fire. Ahmes' frown turned into a snarl, "Maybe the Jarl should just be patient?" Ahmes said before sighing, "I'm sorry, I just-," Nilkas interrupted him, "It's alright, I understand, I'll give you a few minutes," Nilkir turned and walked towards Dragonsreach ahead of him. Ahmes stared into the fire for a few moments longer until he decided to turn away and finally head to Dragonsreach, "Goodbye," he said as he slowly walked away from the fire without looking back.

"Ahmes, it's good to see you again. I heard what happened, I am truly sorry," Jarl Frothar said solemnly. Ahmes eyes had remained steeled, "You had wanted to tell me something, my lord?" Ahmes asked as he bowed to the Jarl. The Jarl stood from his throne, "Yes, when you had first arrived you had informed me of your experience in the Hunt. I had told you I would think upon what to do, and I would wish to inform you on my decision," the Jarl stated as he paced around the room. Ahmes' eyebrow piqued in interest, it had been the reason why he had ventured to Whiterun in the first place. No doubt whatever came out the Jarl's mouth next was of the at most importance. "As you know, I have many duties and responsibilities that take up most of my time. And as you know, sending men to the Hunt is a suicide mission. Based on these factors, I truly cannot use any of my power to help you," Ahmes' anger flared and his gaze morphed into a glare until the Jarl spoke again, "However, I do know of one person who may be able to help you. You have heard the legends of the Dragonborn correct?" The young Jarl asked. Ahmes slowly nodded his head, not knowing where he was going with this. "The Dragonborn is to have been said to be the most powerful of all of Skyrim, and to have defeated the World Eater, a being that many people may have revered as a god. If there is anyone in Skyrim that can deal with the Hunt, it is him," Ahmes would've beamed at the opportunity to meet the legendary Dragonborn before. Growing up, Ahmes was told a story about the Dragonborn every night before he went to bed. Ahmes looked up to the legendary figure and fell in love with adventuring in the first place because of him. The magic surrounding his legendary Dragonshouts, the epicenes of his fights with Alduin, his adventure to stop the Civil War of Skyrim, he loved them all. But now, he was skeptical, no one has ever heard of or seen the Dragonborn for at least a decade. No one even knew if the Dragonborn was even alive. That, coupled with the harshness of reality created a scowl on Ahmes' face. "No mean to disrespect, but how can I find a man who not only hasn't been sighted in over a decade, but also has no known physical description that I can work upon?" Ahmes asked with a slight bow. The Jarl gave a small grin that vanished as soon as it appeared, "That is true, the Dragonborn hasn't been sighted by anyone in years, but even if he was sighted, there hasn't been a definite physical description of him that could help find him. Which leads me to my next point, you are to climb the Throat of the World. There, you will speak with the Greybeards. If anyone would know the whereabouts of the Dragonborn, it would be them," The Jarl said, proud of his plan. Ahmes was actually impressed, he didn't really think of that. Even if the Greybeards didn't know exactly where the Dragonborn was, they could probably find a way to track him with their Thuum. Legends say that the Voice could move mountains, if that was true then finding the Dragonborn would be a piece of cake. Things had started to get a little brighter for the young adventurer. Ahmes stood from his position and slightly bowed his head once more, "If you think that would be the best course of action, then I will find him. I will find the Dragonborn," Ahmes said with resolve. "Then go, find the Dragonborn and end this Hunt," the Jarl commanded as Ahmes turned and escorted himself out of Dragonsreach.

Claudia had noticed Ahmes walk out of Dragonsreach and immediately went to him. "Ahmes," she called out with a small wave. Ahmes looked over to her and gave a weak, sleepish smile that anyone could tell was fake. Ahmes walked over to her when he reached down the stairs leading to Dragonsreach. "I'm sorry, but I don't have a lot of time to chat, I need to go," he said as he made his way past her. Claudia began to worry for Ahmes, "You're leaving? Where? Why?" she asked as Ahmes walked to Jorrvaskr to gather his possessions. Claudia followed Ahmes, hoping for an answer. Ahmes didn't leave his eyes off his possessions as he continued to pack, "The reason I came here was to find out what to do about the Hunt, The Jarl told me that the Greybeards might help me find the Dragonborn, with his help I might be able to stop the Hunt," he said sternly. "Stop the Hunt? Why? Why would you need to stop the Hunt? What does the Hunt have to do with anything?" she asked as she gently grabbed his arm. He stopped packing, suddenly realizing that he never told anyone about the Hunt. He never even told Lars about it, he had almost forgotten about it when he interacted with his friends, but that time was over. He stopped what he was doing and lifted his shirt, Claudia gasped when she saw it. A large scar ran across Ahmes' back. It looked like it had been made not too long ago. She had no idea that he had such a scar and had been keeping it a secret. "I have been to the Hunt; I know what makes it so dangerous. Trust me, if I don't do anything about it soon, more people are going to march to their deaths," he said sternly before going back to packing. Claudia didn't know what to say, she had no idea that Ahmes had survived the un-survivable Hunt. It was unheard of, and she didn't think he was lying. He wasn't the type of person to say something like that for attention. What could've Ahmes possibly have seen that would make him so frantic about stopping the Hunt? Whatever it was, Claudia had no intention of leaving Ahmes, and he was one of the only people she had left. She wasn't going to lose him too. "I'm coming with you," she resoled. Ahmes slowly turned around and stared at her, he couldn't believe what he was hearing. He shook his head, "No, it's too dangerous, if I lose you too-," Claudia interrupted him, "That's exactly why I have to go with you, someone has to be out there and watch your back. If I let you leave, I'll be all alone again. I'll always be wondering if you were okay. No, I'm going with you and that is final," she said with conviction. Ahmes stared at her for a few moments and then thought in intense concentration. At one point his eyes became blank before going back to life again. He slowly and reluctantly nodded, "The road will be dangerous, but if you are willing to go with me, I can't stop you," he resigned. Claudia breathed a sigh of relief she didn't know she was holding.

The sky had turned dark when the two began to head out. Neither one of them owned a horse, but there was a stable outside of Whiterun. When they combined their collected Septims, they were able to rent two horses for the trip. In order to climb up the Throat of the World, they would have to make their way to Ivarstead, but there were two ways to get there. The first path involved going through Riverwood around the mountain by going south. The other path was to head around the mountain the other way around and go east and then south from there. Ahmes had decided they would go through Riverwood. He told Claudia that he had friends there, and that they could get supplies there for the rest of the trip. Ahmes had also reasoned that it might be the faster route to Ivarstead, but he wasn't entirely sure. Claudia decided to trust the young adventurer and they rode off to the next part of their journey. With the loss of their friends on their mind, hope began to sprout that things will get better and that the Hunt would be put to an end.

Chapter 14

It had been about an hour since they head out to Riverwood, and the night sky had been painted with small lights that glowed brightly. The two moons shined down at the two Companions, illuminating the area enough to get a decent view in the darkness. They both looked up at the starry sky in awe. Neither one of them had ever gotten a good look of the night sky like this in a long time. The two decided to at least keep on moving for at least a half an hour before setting up camp. Ahmes' legs cramped from sitting on a horse for too long, but he had ignored the pain for as long as he could. He would let his companion see him show any weakness, he was too proud. He could only stare at her back as she trotted on her horse in front of him. Her fiery ponytail bounced and whipped left and right as the horse made more steps. It almost became hypnotizing to watch, as he felt his eyes become heavier. Claudia tried to keep her attention on going the right direction, one mistake, and they will miss Riverwood by miles. She wasn't particularly worried if any predators attacked them, both of them were able to hold their own in combat. They were some of the best Companions after all. She had begun to wonder however, if leaving at night was the most intelligent choice. Riverwood was only a few hours away by horseback. If they had waited to leave in the morning, they would have an easier time getting there. She could understand Ahmes' intentions on leaving at night; he wanted to get to Ivarstead as soon as possible. At this rate, they might be able to get to Riverwood in the morning. She wondered how Ahmes knew the people of Riverwood, he never mentioned any of them. Did he used to live there? Was that the town he was born in? Claudia wasn't entirely sure, but she wanted to find out. "So, how is it you know the people of Riverwood again?" Claudia asked while looking over her shoulder to Ahmes. He looked exhausted, and his eyes lost their life. When he noticed her call out to him, life returned to his eyes, and she shook off the exhaustion. "I never did," Ahmes said, catching Claudia's little trick. Claudia inwardly swore before Ahmes continued, "But if you must know, the people there helped me recover when I was healing from my wounds" Claudia already knew why he needed to recover in the first place. He had told her that he had survived the Hunt, but he never went into any detail. She wanted to know what exactly made the Hunt so dangerous that it had deemed un-survivable, but she didn't want to pester him at the moment. Things seemed hard for him right now as is, so Claudia remained silent. Ahmes stopped his horse and Claudia turned to him. He dismounted and decided to set up camp to sleep. Neither one of them brought a tent, so they decided to sleep under the stars. The temperature hadn't really been cold enough for snow to fall, so they didn't think a tent would be necessary. Unfortunately, they were wrong. The cold air nipped at both of them as they tried to sleep in their wool blankets. The ground was hard and difficult to sleep on. They decided to sleep about five yards away from each other. Not realizing just how cold the night would be. Ahmes had his back to Claudia; he really wanted to be alone with his thoughts. He never really got to do that anymore since he lost his friends. Before, his thoughts were filled with dreams of becoming an adventurer seeing new and exotic places. Now, his thoughts were plagued with the horrors he seen. Braith's last words played over and over in his mind as the image of Lars' throat being slit in front of him repeated itself. He blamed himself for their deaths, if he had been stronger Lars would've been alive, and if Lars was alive, Braith wouldn't have-, he shook his thoughts away before they became too self-loathing. His eyes no longer held any life anymore and they remained blank, gazing in the distance but not truly seeing anything.

Claudia stared at Ahmes' back as he shivered from the cold, and the thoughts that destroyed his mind. She was freezing; she truly wished she had anticipated this. She continued to look at his back as the thought of sleeping next to him for warmth constantly crept up further into her mind until it was all she could think about. She slowly crawled over to him, debating whether it was a good idea. No doubt he was blaming himself and thinking self-loathing thoughts, it didn't take a genius to tell that. She steeled her resolve; he needed someone more than anything right now. Gods knew that she needed comfort too; she had also been thinking depressing thoughts ever since her two friends had died. She needed this just as much as he did, she decided as she slowly wrapped her arms around his shaking form. As soon as he felt her arms around him, he stiffened and slowly looked back at her over his shoulder. She smiled warmly at him and tightened her grip. He eventually relaxed from her touch and made a relaxing sigh. She was happy that he followed her idea to keep warm without much of a complaint. She was wondering if he was comfortable until he slowly moved around under her hug. He turned around in her grip and looked at her. For a split moment she could see his blank stare that he would now wear since their friends died. She wanted to see as little of that look as humanly possible, it made her frightened that the idea that something traumatized him so much that the life in his eyes would just…disappear at a moment's notice. When he looked into her eyes, his eyes turned to normal and he stared at her for a few moments. She realized what kind of position they were in when she noticed her legs were accidently caught in his. They stared into each other's eyes for a few moments with their hearts pounding in their chest, and their faces burning a crimson red. Her hair had released itself from its ponytail a while ago, Ahmes noticed as her hair spread wildly around them. Claudia honestly debated on what to do before Ahmes turned his back to her again and fell asleep. Claudia was somewhat relived, but she was worried for him. That gaze he would wear, his eyes turning lifeless. He wore that face more and more the minutes went by and it truly worried Claudia, she decided that she would try to help him in any way that she could. She would have to be a rock, and try to keep Ahmes from falling too far. Sleep began to overtake her as she rubbed her face against his back and sighed in relaxation. Things weren't going to get an easier from here on out. So the two Companions decided to take advantage of every second of a moment that would not last forever.

Chapter 15

Ahmes had awaked with Claudia hugging him from behind; he had almost forgotten that she cuddled with him to get warmth before they both fell asleep. It was nice to be honest; he had never been cuddled by anyone before. It was a warm and welcoming experience. The cold air had vanished, and the sun had risen. There were some birds chirping overhead and the horses stayed where they were, no doubt they woke up before he did. He looked over to Claudia, who had a small smile on her face. Ahmes stared at her with a blank expression, not really knowing if he should move out of her embrace or not. He made a tired sigh and shook Claudia up. When she remembered the position they were in, she got up quickly and crawled out the blankets with a blush on her face. Ahmes stood up, and quickly made way to his horse to reequip the armor he took off before sleeping. Claudia looked over to Ahmes in concern before getting up herself and reequipping her own armor. As Ahmes placed his sword at his hip, he mounted himself on to his horse and untied the horse from the log its reins were attached to. The two began to gallop towards Riverwood once again without a single word. This time, Ahmes sat in front and Claudia was forced to stare at his back. She wanted to help him, but she had no idea how. She never had to deal someone else losing someone important to them before. Sure, she was saddened from the loss of her friends too, but Ahmes' grief was affecting him more and more each day. She wished she could confide her concern to him, but she didn't know how he would react. They have continued to gallop for at least ten more minutes until a noise could be heard from a nearby bush. The two adventurers looked over to it and nodded to each other while unsheathing their bows. Ahmes was not very good with a bow and arrow, but he could get by. Claudia however, was exceptional with her bow. Her mother had taught her archery and she was a natural at it. Many would argue that the bow and arrow was her signature weapon. They aimed their arrows at the rustling until a large frost troll jumped out in fear. The two Companions fired their arrows at the beast, but the troll didn't slow down. Instead, it turned around and smashed the ground in rage. It then started to charge at them blindly. Ahmes' eyes narrowed as his memory of the last frost troll invaded his mind. He expected the troll to act like this, but he was lucky last time. The frost troll started to change the direction of his charge to Claudia. Ahmes looked down at his bow and back up to the troll. He shook his head wildly and dropped the bow. He then extended his palm outward and focused. He remembered the day Lars died and a small jet of fire expanded out from his palm and covered the beast in flames. The flames weren't nearly as intense the first time he used magic, but it was still enough to incapacitate the troll. The troll fell to the ground and thrashed around wildly as Ahmes galloped to it. When he had gotten close to it, he hoped off his horse and landed on the troll, stabbing his sword in its throat. Claudia stared at him with wide eyes, _had he lost his mind? That was incredibly dangerous! Does he have any semblance of safety?_ She asked herself. Ahmes stood up and wiped his sword on a cloth from his pocket with a blank, lifeless expression. He turned back to his horse and mounted, "Let's go, we will get there soon if we keep moving," he said with no emotion in his voice. Claudia slowly nodded as they galloped again, _when did he learn to use magic? Why does his eyes always become like that? I don't think I have seen any other expression on his face at all today,_ Claudia thought. She had started to get a little frustrated, _why won't let me in?_

Eventually, the sight of a small village could be seen from a distance. They sped up their horses and galloped to the village. When they arrived, many of the villagers seemed to be shocked at the sight of the two Companions. The two warriors dismounted from their horses and looked around the village around them. Claudia never really had a good look at the village; most of her time was spent working of missions for the Companions or training. Ahmes' blank expression slightly faltered at the sight of the old village. _At least this place doesn't look like it changed. Well, it has only been a few weeks._ Ahmes thought to himself. The two warriors then heard a feminine voice call out Ahmes' name and turned to the source of the voice. Dorthe had ran out of her home to see what the commotion was about and was pleasantly surprised, one of her closest friends had returned. She rushed over to Ahmes and Claudia with Frodnar right behind her. As soon as she got close enough she practically leapt on Ahmes in a giant bear hug, "You're back!" she celebrated as she got him in her big embrace. For a split moment, she could see the blank expression that decorated Ahmes' face and eyes before a fake smile replaced it. Dorthe's eyes wide for a moment, almost not recognizing him for a moment. She shook off the thought from her head, assuming it was only her imagination. She looked over to the redhead that accompanied him, "Who is this?" she asked politely with a warm smile. Claudia's face brightened a little from the warm welcome as she put her hand out to shake, "Hi, my name is Claudia. It's very nice to meet you," Claudia said politely. Dorthe released herself from the hug before Ahmes could hug her back and turned to Claudia, "I'm Dorthe, I'm the local blacksmith here. That is quite the impressive sword you got there, by the way. May I see it?" she asked while shaking the Companion's hand with both hands. Claudia looked conflicted whether she should let Dorthe touch her blade, but quickly dismissed the thought of refusing her and unsheathed her sword. Dorthe carefully took the sword and inspected it, "Not bad, but it's not as good as my masterpiece," she said, baiting for Claudia's reaction. Claudia was skeptical, there was no way anyone could ever create a weapon better than the one she had. It had been made from the best forge in all of Skyrim, the Skyforge. "Are you certain? This is my best sword, and I'm not sure if anyone could beat the Companion's blacksmith," Claudia replied challengingly. The two girls stared at each other with smiled on their faces but with challenging stares. Ahmes could almost see lighting cross between the two girl's eyes. "Is that so? Ahmes hand me your sword," Dorthe commanded as she extended her hand out to him, not taking her eyes off her challenger's. Ahmes stared at the two for a moment before unsheathing his blade and carefully handed it over to Dorthe. Dorthe presented his sword to Claudia and mentioned all the materials the blade was made out of. "Notice the sturdy wooden grip, with the steel woven in. Notice the blade's sharpness; see how a single touch can open skin. See how the blade's natural beauty in the sunlight," Dorthe said as Claudia closely inspected the steel sword. She never had a good look at Ahmes' sword. She would also never have guessed that the sword was so finely crafted. If someone were to ask, she would have no idea that such a blade was forged outside the Skyforge. No doubt, this girl was very skilled in her work. The two girls stared at the blades side by side and compared the craftsmanship. After a few moments of inspection, they couldn't make a decision and declared it as a tie. Dorthe handed Ahmes his sword back as he gave a silent thank you. Frodnar turned to Ahmes, "So, what did the Jarl tell you to do about the Hunt?" he asked. Ahmes shook his head, "He told me he couldn't help me, but he told me that he knew someone that could. The Dragonborn," Ahmes explained as Dorthe and Frodnar's eyes widen in shock of mention of the Dragonborn. "The Dragonborn? But no one has ever seen him in years, how are you going to find him?" Dorthe asked. Ahmes looked up towards the nearby mountain, "If anyone should know where the Dragonborn is, it would be the Greybeards. First we need to get to Ivarstead, if we get some supplies here, it will help our chances," Ahmes declared as he continued to stare up the mountain. "The walk up is pretty high. Not to mention the monsters up there, legends say that those go up, never come down," Frodnar said as he gave a worried look to his friend. "You sure you can do this?" he asked Ahmes. Ahmes didn't reply, instead, he just continued to stare up the mountain. He looked down in thought and turned to Claudia, "We are going to need a lot of food, I want you to head to the markets here and get some for the journey. We head out tomorrow," Ahmes commanded as he began to walk off to a random direction, "Where are you going?" Dorthe asked. Ahmes continued forward, ignoring the call out to him. Claudia walked to a nearby store before giving Ahmes a worried look. Frodnar and Dorthe gave each other a look and nodded to each other, something was wrong. Ahmes was different, he changed somehow, and they were going to get to the bottom of it. Frodnar followed Ahmes and Dorthe followed Claudia, determined to find out what.

Chapter 16

Claudia had been buying and gathering supplies for their journey after Ahmes told her to do so before walking off to gods knows where. As she handed the merchant some Septims, Dorthe appeared before her, leaning on the counter. "Hi, um, Claudia? There is something I wanted to ask you. Did Ahmes seem to act kinda…I don't know, different to you?" Dorthe asked, hoping she had an idea to what caused Ahmes to have that blank expression on his face the entire time. Claudia sighed as she picked up her things from the merchant with a quick thank you. "It's a really long story, honestly, I am not entirely sure if I am allowed to tell you…Im not entirely sure you want to hear about it," she said with a hint of sorrow in her voice. That had only intrigued Dorthe more, what could have possibly been so bad that Ahmes had changed entirely and make this seemingly friendly girl so secretive? Dorthe was worried for Ahmes and the girl in front of her, although she didn't know her for long, she knew that if she was around Ahmes, she couldn't possibly be a bad person. Ahmes though, he was different. Before he would be not serious at all, he would be polite, and he would always be so full of life. At least in her eyes, but now…he was different. The way his eyes looked…dead, and his expression looked tired. Even when he was shy, he never was that quiet _. I won't take advantage of you,_ the memory of that night replayed in her head. What had changed? Claudia walked away before Dorthe could ask any more questions.

Frodnar had caught up to Ahmes and grabbed him by the arm, "Ahmes, hey, what's wrong?" he asked. Ahmes refused to turn back to his friend. Instead he forced his arm away from Frodnar and kept walking. Frodnar had gotten frustrated and continued to follow Ahmes before he grabbed him by the arm again, but with more force. "Ahmes, Dorthe is worried about you, I'm worried about you, and I even bet your friend is worried about you. If you keep whatever it is you are hiding bottled up, it will eat away at you. It will consume you and you will push everyone away. Trust me, I know. I've seen it happen a thousand times, to soldiers, to my own family," Frodnar explained as he tried to get Ahmes to turn to him. Ahmes' arm had suddenly become hot, too hot to touch. Frodnar immediately let go and fought away the burning pain that emitted from Ahmes. _How did he do that?_ Frodnar asked himself. Ahmes turned to him with rage in his eyes, "Just get away from me!" Ahmes ran away from Frodnar. He looked down at his feet, ashamed. He had only tried to help; he should've known Ahmes needed his space. He always screwed things up, even as a kid. Pulling pranks on everyone, he was so foolish. He couldn't even tell Dorthe his feelings; _I'm such a screw up._ No, he wasn't going to feel sorry for himself, he had to help his friend. This wasn't about him and his own screw ups. He followed the direction Ahmes went, eventually, he found Ahmes sitting on a rock. He just stared into his hand, fire crackled in his hands. His face contorted in thought. Frodnar started to get frustrated, "This is where you wanted to go? You do know that you left your friend to get all your supplies for you, right?" Frodnar asked with anger in his voice. Ahmes stared at the fire blankly, "No, I came here to help you, and all you do is sulk like a little girl," Frodnar said with disgust. Ahmes gave Frodnar a full on glare. Frodnar was shocked; he had never seen that expression on Ahmes before. "Shut up," Ahmes responded coldly. Frodnar walked straight up to Ahmes and grabbed him by the collar, and pulled him to his face. "Do you really think you are doing favors for anyone sulking? Whatever happened to you, you have to get over it! For their sake!" Frodnar screamed while pointing to the villages' direction. Ahmes' glare darkened and Frodnar became angrier, he wanted to help him, but if he kept acting like this, all he would do is get someone hurt. He would be damned if someone he cared about got hurt just because Ahmes was sulking, "Why don't you quit you're sulking you milkdrinker!" Frodnar screamed in Ahmes face as Ahmes' face transformed into rage. That word echoed in his head, _milkdrinker, milkdrinker, milkdrinker._ He instantly remembered that it was nickname people gave Lars. Ahmes' fist met Frodnar's face and fire erupted around him for a split second. Frodnar turned around after recovering from the hit, only to be punched in the gut. Frodnar fell to his knees and started coughing uncontrollably. Ahmes turned back to the direction of Riverwood and walked away. Frodnar stared at Ahmes' back angrily as he walked away, but became ashamed himself in a split second. _Damnit, I took it too far,_ he thought to himself.

Ahmes wore a blank expression as he walked back to Riverwood, somewhat regretful that he hit Frodnar. He hated feeling like this; it had been eating away at him. The numbness of his entire body, the flashes of anger, the surges of fire, and the memories that constantly plagued his thoughts, their eyes; he wished he could stop it all. He kept walking until he saw the Sleeping Giant Inn sign, but for some reason something in smaller lettering was written on the bottom of it, " **Qeb Dobvybxoap xob abxa**." Ahmes ignored it and continued to walk to the tavern. When he opened the doors and walked inside, he noticed only two people were inside, the innkeeper and some random person wearing a brownish leather armor that hid his face with a hood. He ignored the visitor and made straight to the innkeeper. Last time he was here, the place was full of people drinking and having a good time. He missed that time, things were easier then. It felt so long ago, even though it happened a few weeks ago. Has he really changed that much? He gave his Septims to the owner and rented a room for one, it was all he could afford. He was prepared to give the key to the room to Claudia; she deserved something after all he put her through. He decided he could just sleep outside that night, he really didn't mind. As he walked out the inn, he noticed Claudia hastily walking out of the shop with supplies in hand. He made way to talk to her, when he caught up to her, he tapped her shoulder and she turned to him. "Ahmes, I got the supplies. Where are we going to sleep?" she asked in faint surprise while placing their supplies on the horses. "Well, I could only afford a room for one for tonight, so here," he said as he handed her the key. Claudia looked at the key in her hands and back at Ahmes, "I can't accept this, you bought the room," she said as she tried to give the key back before Ahmes closed her hands over it. "No, I bought it for you, I'll figure out where to sleep. You deserve a warm bed tonight, it's the least I could do," he said with a fake smile. Claudia hesitantly nodded while placing the key in her back pocket. A few moments later, Dorthe had finally caught up to the fiery redhead, "Hey, I was talking to you. It's rude to leave in the middle of a conversation," she said with a slight frown on her face. Dorthe noticed Ahmes' presence and turned to him, "Hey, you ok?" she asked. Ahmes gave her a fake smile and told her he was fine, "So, do you guys need a place to stay? I am sure I can make some room for you two," she said with a hopeful look on her face. Ahmes shook his head, "No worries, I already paid for Claudia to stay at the inn for the night," he said placing his hand on Claudia's shoulder. Dorthe nodded slowly before a question popped into her mind. "What about you? Where are you staying? You can stay with us if you would like," she offered before Ahmes shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I would like to be alone for the night," he stated as he looked to the ground guilty. The two girls looked at Ahmes in concern before Ahmes walked away, almost at random. Dorthe clicked her tongue, "Why does everyone keep doing that to me today?" she asked herself.

Soon, night had fallen and Ahmes stared at the small fire he made. He decided that he would stay outside Riverwood and camp out for the night. He wasn't too far from Riverwood, a good five minutes of walking, and anyone could find him. He stared at the flame he made with magic intently until he heard a noise from behind him. He quickly grabbed his sword and unsheathed it before noticing it was Dorthe who had come to see him. He sheathed his weapon and sat back to the fire. He swore that he could hear another presence in the distance, but ignored it, thinking it was his imagination. Dorthe sat next to Ahmes and stared at the fire. "Frodnar told me that visiting you was a bad idea, he said 'let him brood on his own,'" she imitated Frodnar in a fake deep voice. She laughed at her own impersonation, but Ahmes remained silent. "I noticed Frodnar had a mean black eye, care to tell me what happened?" she asked as she tried to get a good look at him. Ahmes continued to stare into the fire blankly, only giving a long sigh in response. "Why did you guys fight? What did he say to you?" she asked. He finally looked over to her, but his eyes made her almost regret showing up. They were blank, devoid of life. "Nothing, he just…he was trying to make me feel better, but I shut him out. He got upset that I was bringing people down, and we had a small argument," Ahmes answered with a long sigh. Dorthe scooted closer to him and put her hand on his shoulder, he then placed his hand on her hand. He looked up, and wondered if Lars and Braith could see him. "Why have you been like this? What is it that makes you so…blank?" she asked as he looked back into the fire. He paused for a moment, trying to figure out what to say. "Everything is the exact same as when I left, but…why does ever thing feel so different then?" he asked himself and Dorthe. She looked into the fire with him and tried to answer is question. Before she could say anything, he continued, "I have seen things, horrible things. I have done things I regret, I…" he stopped as the memory played back in his mind. "I murdered them, I completely destroyed them. They killed my friend. They slit his throat in front of me; I can remember it as clearly as I see you now. They moved that knife as slow as possible across his neck, and he just…screamed. I can still hear it in my dreams, the screaming," he said as tears fell down his face. The two of them heard a rustle behind the,, but only Dorthe looked. Claudia was looking at Ahmes' back with tears running down her face. She slowly walked over and sat on the other side of him as she grabbed his hand. Dorthe thought that might help him as she grabbed the other. Claudia nodded him to go on, His voice became angry, "They were laughing, the entire time. They laughed as they killed Lars!" he yelled, choking back sobs. His grip became tighter, "When I saw Lars' lifeless eyes stare into mine, I snapped. I just…started burning them all alive. Melting the skin of their legs so they wouldn't run, stabbing each one of them," he stopped as the group noticed Frodnar walk in front of the fire too and sat down. They all had come to comfort him, and Ahmes wanted to push them away. He felt terrible for that. "The worst part about it was, I…I liked it. I loved to hear their screams as they melted away, to hear them beg for mercy before I stabbed their throats. It gave me a sick pleasure to know that they were getting exactly what they deserved," he said as his face became grim. The three looked at him in slight fear, they had no idea that he had gone through so much. They all knew that it was the tip of the iceberg; they all knew he had seen things in the Hunt that no one should see, and that it most likely affected him. "I dragged his dead body back to Whiterun, and then…the look of grief on Braith's face. The utter anger, the fear, the hurt. It was my fault, and the next day she…," Claudia's grip tightened on his. She knew what he would say next, "The next day, I saw her hung there. On the Gildergreen, she was so pale. Her eyes, stared right at me. The last thing she said to me…" he started to sob as the three looked at him with tears in their eyes. They were afraid what he was going to say next. Even though Dorthe and Frodnar never met these people, they knew that the things he had seen and done had scarred Ahmes. Almost to the point of no return, "She said, 'It should've been you,'" he replayed as he started to get into another fit of sobs. He needed this, he needed to let it all out, he realized as he buried his face into Claudia's shoulder. Frodnar felt terrible for fighting with him before, he had no idea that something so terrible happened to his friend. He reached out and firmly grabbed Ahmes' shoulder. "It's okay, it's over now. You don't have to keep it in anymore. We are here for you and I'm sorry for before. I didn't know," Frodnar said with tears rolling down his cheek. He really did feel like a total screw up now, he said terrible things to one of his only friends, he should've just tried to keep talking to him instead of getting mad. Dorthe didn't know what to say, she started sobbing along with Ahmes. She wished that he never had to deal with all of that, to take away his pain, even if it meant taking his place. Claudia had cried with him, she had gone through losing the same people too, and it was getting to her. She had been frustrated that she couldn't do anything for him, but now she wished that he was happy again. To just see him smile one more time was the only thing she wanted at the moment. Ahmes noticed the fire was starting to go out and extended his palm out to it, fire flew out his palm and made the fire live again. "Where did you learn that?" Frodnar asked while wiping his face with his arm, trying to divert the subject at least for a little bit. Ahmes looked into his hand, his tear stained face had become blank again. "I didn't, when Lars died, these flames erupted around me in my anger. I have no idea how I did it, but ever since…It had become second nature. As if I had been doing this for years," he explained before getting up and lying down on the animal skin he set up for himself. "I don't want to talk anymore, I need to be alone right now," he said blankly. The group had been slightly relived to see Ahmes express some emotion, but they were disappointed to see him revert back to his blank expression. They group agreed that none of them wanted to leave him alone, so they all decided to sleep next to him. Keeping him company would help him through this. Ahmes replayed the memories in his mind over and over again; he realized that he had been doing that every night now as sleep overtook him.

Chapter 17

Ahmes woke up with a groggy feeling; he saw that his friends were now awake and gathering their things to go back to Riverwood. The sound of a nearby river caught his attention and he listened to it intensely, somehow being calmed by it. The group of four walked back to Riverwood together, not making any conversation or eye contact. Ahmes sighed knowing that this was his fault, that he created this awkward tension. As they passed the gate into Riverwood, Ahmes broke into a beeline to the horses. The others looked at each other and followed him, knowing his intention. "You're leaving already?" Dorthe asked in disappointment. Ahmes nodded as he mounted his horse, "We need to move as early as possible, I want to reach Ivarstead before nightfall and I don't know exactly how far it is," Ahmes replied. Dorthe crossed her arms and looked up at Ahmes with a slight frown, "Then I am coming with you." She declared as Claudia got up on her horse. The two Companions gave each other a look and Ahmes turned back to Dorthe, his messy black hair moving a bit from the wind that began to pick up, "No, it's too dangerous, you're better off here," he said with a commanding voice. Dorthe's frown deepened and she shook her head in defiance, "I am going with you," she persisted. Frodnar walked up behind Dorthe and supportably grabbed her shoulder, "If she is going, then I'm going too. Someone has to watch her back," the two looked at each other warmly and turned back to Ahmes. Ahmes sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, "You know what? Fine, you can come, but don't blame me if something happens," he said in defeat while running his hand down his face. He was very tired from last night, and could barely get any sleep. He really didn't need this right now. Claudia was somewhat glad they were coming; she had gotten quite fond of the two. The two left in order to get their things and Ahmes waited for them alongside Claudia, even though he desperately wanted to leave right then and there. He didn't want to put them in any danger, he already lost some of his friends, he didn't want to lose some more. He looked up at the sky; clouds decorated it like a dark fluffy blanket. No sunlight could be seen through the thick fog in the sky. The clouds had taken a dark color, and Ahmes began to worry that it might rain soon, another reason why he wanted to leave. Moments later and the two returned holding their horses by the reigns. Dorthe was wearing leather armor that had pieces of animal hide with a sword hanging on her hip. She also carried a quiver on her back accompanied by a wooden bow; her horse had a tan color to it with a white main and tail. It was a big horse and Ahmes worried that she wouldn't be able to catch up as easily. Frodnar wore fur gauntlets and fur boots alongside a leather cuirass with a blue cloth running down it from the shoulder to his waist. Chainmail could be seen under the cuirass as it revealed itself on his arms as sleeves. An axe hung on his side and a quiver's leather strap hung around him that held up the quiver on his back. His horse was brown with a black mane and white fur on the bottom part of its legs, it was smaller than the other horses but its legs looked strong. Ahmes galloped ahead of the group and they followed without question, Ahmes looked over to the river at his right through the corner of his eye. The river had almost looked silver while under the cloudy sky. Ahmes heard a woodpecker peck away at some tree and he noticed the roots that had occasionally sprout from under the ground below them. As they galloped along the river, they began to move uphill and more trees began to come in sight. They had been following the stone road, knowing that it would lead them to their next destination. Every so often, small brown and green plants grew on the sides of the road, only to be crushed by the horses as they galloped by. They past a small waterfall and began to move up even higher in elevation. Soon, the river was no longer next to them and they were moving even higher up the hill. More rocks could be found next to the ground below and the sound of running water became more silent. Eventually the path split into two and the group decided to go to the path on the left, it lead to higher elevation and it seemed like the right way to go. As they continued to move on forward, Ahmes saw a small fox run alongside with them and proceed to divert into its own path. The path ahead again split into two, and the group decided to go right, chances were that Ivarstead would more likely be easier to get through that path, if Ahmes remembered his map correctly. Also, there were houses alongside the road and the stone path didn't go any farther if they went left. If they lose the stone road, things would get a lot harder. They continued forward until they were met with a large wooden gate. No one had stood near the gate, so Ahmes decided to go around the small village. The others followed suit and they continued forward on the stone path. As they followed the path longer, the air got colder. Soon, light snow fell from the sky and the wind had picked up a little. Ahmes didn't exactly know if this was a good sign or not. The snow began to fall down harder and it was getting harder to see. The stone path was no longer there to guide them, but they used the part of the ground that wasn't covered in snow as a makeshift path. They eventually passed Haemar's Stone and started to move downhill. Ahmes noticed that the team had started to get tired and that he too was beginning to feel exhausted. He knew though, that if they stopped now, they were as good as dead. Icicles had grown off the rocks and all the plants they passed were covered in frost. The mountain path had started to get smaller and the team began to huddle together and slow down. One wrong move and something terrible could happen. Thankfully, a new stone path was found and they decided to follow that as they passed by an old abandon shack. The snow began to fall less and less and it had become easier to see where they were going. They had started to go uphill again until they noticed a large brown figure on the road. When they got close enough they realized that it was a giant spider the size of a large dog. It was mud brown and covered in hair, its eyes were black and its pincers were large and sharp as blades. Before, Ahmes would've been scared shitless if he saw a giant spider this close, but now it only seemed like a small pest. After everything that happened, he no longer had any regard for his safety, and as he peered at the spider's soulless eyes, he resented his former self for his past fears. Fire erupted in Ahmes' hand, he felt the small flame emit a scorching heat that grew ever stronger with his burning hatred, and then fired the small flame that expanded into a large explosion. It had hit one of its many legs and the creature cried out in pain, turning its attention to him and his companions spreading fear into all of them except for Claudia, who stood defiant against the 8 legged spider. Ahmes figured Dorthe and Frodnar were afraid of the spider and paid no heed to their sudden fear paralyzing them. Claudia galloped alongside him and pulled back her arrow from her bow. She carefully aimed at the spider and released, hitting it right in the head. As the two companions passed by its dead corpse, Ahmes dropped off his horse and stood over the spider. Glaring down at his defeated adversary, he hauled out his blade from his hip and slowly raised the sword above the spider. He plunged his blade down on to the spider's small frame, ending its wretched short life. Dorthe and Frodnar let out a breath of relief, and the group continued moving cautiously. A few seconds later loud thumps could be heard from behind them, Dorthe spoke up, "Do you guys hear someth-," a loud roar interrupted them as a bear began to chase them. "Oh come on!" Frodnar yelled as the bear began to catch up to them. Ahmes silently cursed as he turned his horse around and unsheathed his sword, charging at it blindly. The bear made no intention of changing its course and Ahmes counted on it. When he got close enough he slashed down at the bear and hit it straight in the face. The bear fell back and screamed in agony, Ahmes took this time to turn around again and escape in a full gallop. A few moments later, the group saw a stone bridge on top of a river and cheered silently. The sky had turned darker and night was going to fall soon. The team decided to find the nearest inn and stay there for the night. As they dismounted, Ahmes looked up and took in the giant mountain that looked as if it touched the sky. It daunted over him and casted a large shadow over the land, as if it's presence overlook the entire world. It was a physical echo of the world. The group could only stare at the giant land mass, its sheer size made even the strongest of men weak before it. "I'm gonna guess that's the Throat of the World," Frodnar said sarcastically with a small smirk painted on his lips. Dorthe and Claudia could only stare in awe of it, this was the first time either one of them had been so close to it. Sure they had seen it from far away, but to see just how truly massive it was, breathtaking. Ahmes snapped his fingers in front of the two girl's faces and broke the spell the mountain gave. The group explored the small milling town, hoping to find the village inn. Ahmes found a small wooden sign hang above him creaking back and forth that created an ominous feeling that crawled down his spine; it was made of old, wet wood with the design smudged from the years of waning. The Vilemyr Inn, it said in large letters. Like the inn before small letters had been printed on the bottom, " **Qeb Dobvybxoap xob abxa** ," the same writing as before. He walked past the old wooden door without warning and stepped inside. It was a typical Nord inn; a fire pit decorated the middle of the common room, an L shaped counter at the southeast end, with five long tables along the southwest and northeast walls. There were three doorways leading to bedrooms, two on the northeast side and a larger one on the southwest side. Against the southeast wall was a large vat with several barrels and a pile of firewood. On the counter, multiple books and wines stood tall. As soon Ahmes stepped in, he was greeted by a balding old man. He was wearing an old apron and wrinkles adorned his face. Ahmes looked around, and the inn was littered with imperial soldiers, many of which were talking about the condition of the Second Great War. "Word says that the Thalmor have been pushing us back for a while now. Looks like they are knocking on the borders of Skyrim, won't be long till this whole country will be covered in those Thalmor bastards," one of them said before taking a large gulp from his bottle of mead. Another solider stood from his seat and spoke up, "If I see any one of those Elf bastards ill skin em alive with my sword," he shouted as the group of imperials laughed and toasted to themselves. Ahmes tried to ignore them as he made his way to the inn keeper, "I am looking for some rooms for my companions and I. Are there any rooms left?" Ahmes asked, resting his arm on the counter. However, the innkeeper was too busy cleaning a wine bottle to look up at Ahmes, "I'm sorry sir, the Imperials have already rented out all the rooms tonight," he apologized. Ahmes raised his hand, "It's alright, thank you," he said politely, turning around and then sluggishly left the inn. He had met his friends outside the inn, waiting for him, "Anything?" Claudia asked, unconsciously resting her arm on her sword. Her scarlet hair draped over her left shoulder, undone from its usual ponytail. "Imperial soldiers rented out the place, we don't have anywhere to stay, and it's going to get colder, much colder," Ahmes replied. The group each gave each other contemplating looks as they went over any possible way to get any shelter for the night. Frodar grabbed his animal skin blankets and hoisted them over his shoulder, "Well, I guess if we are going to travel up the Throat of the World, we are most likely going to end up sleeping up there. Might as well get some practice in and sleep outside," he said. The rest of the group sighed in defeat at the thought of having to sleep in the unforgiving wilderness. Ahmes was opposed to the idea, but what choice did they have left? Chances were that if they slept outside they would either get attacked by animals, or freeze to death. He didn't want to have to risk that, especially since he had been put in this kind of situation before. "I guess we don't have a choice," Claudia resigned with a slump of her shoulders. Dorthe shrugged and smiled lightly, leave it to her to smile in a situation like this, Ahmes admired that about her. The group passed over the large stone bridge that started the seven thousand step journey, and made camp at the base of the mountain. Ahmes made a fire with his magic and the group sat together around the fire in a circle. They decided to tell each other stories to pass the time, Frodnar and Dorthe decided to talk about the numerous pranks they used to play on the villagers of Riverwood. "How could you even shut a cow's utters shut?" Claudia asked, engrossed in Frodnar's story. "I won't tell you how long it took, but it was totally worth it! Even my old man thought it was great, you should've saw everybody's faces," Frodnar laughed cheerily. Dorthe and Claudia laughed hysterically from the story, each having their own reasons for liking it. "Don't forget the time you said you wanted to dress your dog up as a Frostbite Spider and everyone almost killed him," Dorthe laughed. Frodnar joined in her laughter and Claudia snickered into the back of her hand. Ahmes really wasn't in the mood to laugh, there was so much riding on this. If he didn't climb that mountain, he wouldn't be able to find the Dragonborn. If he can't find the Dragonborn, there was no way he would be able to defeat the Hunt, and if the Hunt decided to walk out that cave. He didn't want to think about it. He stared blankly into the orange flames as he wondered how he was able to use magic without any formal training so easily. "Ahmes, you okay?" Claudia asked, she leaned forward to get a better look at him. He turned to her and smiled weakly; she smiled back and continued to chat with Dorthe and Frodnar. He didn't want to worry her anymore; he's done plenty of that already. For now, he would not think about it and just listen to his friends tell their stories.

Chapter 18

The group decided to take turns keeping watch until morning arrived. All of them were tired and struggled to keep their eyes open. As they began to dissemble their camp, the cold air rushed through them and sent shivers down their spines. Autumn leaves fell around them alongside light snow. It was a perfect mixture of winter and fall that gave astonishment to those who beheld it. The team walked over to the first steps of the 7,000 step mountain and looked up. The mountain towered everything around them, creating awe like wonder to form inside them. Ahmes took the first step forward and the journey up had begun. The stairs had been slippery and the air was cold, each step becoming harder than the last. The autumn leaves fell from the trees around them like embers in the sky, they looked as if the leaves disappeared when they fell. The mixture of snow and falling leaves were like a rain of ice and fire. Every so often, they would pass by a small alter and one of them would quickly pray at it. Not even one tenth of the way up, and they had already felt like they climbed far above any mountain. They looked out to the world below them, it seemed so distant now. Almost as if they were truly on top of the world. As they continued forward, the leaves ceased to fall to be replaced by the thick blankets of white snow. It had covered the trees and made the air colder than ice. Eventually they spotted a bear, feeding on a stray doe. Its razor sharp teeth bloodied from the corpse it fed on. The doe's eyes were still side open, but no life was held within them. The bear had spotted them and turned on them, blood smearing down its mouth. Ahmes shoot red hot flames to the beast, hoping it would scare it off, only to make it angrier. Frodanr and Dorthe aimed their bows at it while Claudia sprinted forward with sword in hand. The blacksmith and the farmer fired their arrows, only seeming to miss ever so slightly. Claudia still continued forward, not fearing the overwhelming bear. The bear stood on its hind legs, standing several feet taller than the beautiful red head. She slashed at the bear's chest and dodged under a swipe made at her head. Ahmes moved right behind her and slashed at the paw that made an attempt to hurt Claudia. The blade almost had trouble breaking through the thick hide of the mighty beast, but Ahmes was experienced with fighting bears. A stronger pull at the paw and the bear reared back in agony. Claudia took the opportunity and stabbed the bear in the chest. The bear stood there still for a moment before falling backwards and tumble down the mountain. As they continued forward, the cold air smacked their faces, causing them to shiver uncontrollably, even with their fur hides covering them tightly. The strong winds hit the rocks with an incredible force, and created a large gust that made it almost impossible to hear through. It had become difficult to find out what direction they were heading. There was no sky and no sun, only the terrible cold was their friend. The mountain had become a sea of ice and snow that had no end in sight. Thankfully, the group found a ledge that extended above them that worked like a ceiling against the falling snow. They hid under the small black space and huddled together, hoping to gather warmth in this snowstorm. They were surrounded by rocks covered in snow and the sheer cold of the mountain; it made sense now why very few went up the steps to the Throat of the World. It had been hours since they had first departed, but they were still stuck under the makeshift ceiling, no longer wishing to move forward until the storm died down. The rocks around them had become a shield against the harsh snow, stopping it from pelting their faces of the needle like pain. Ahmes attempted to create a flame to heat them, but he could only produce a small ember that barely emitted any heat. The team took in any heat they could from the small flame, each imagining that they stood in front of an inferno. The illuminating candle like flame withered and danced in the wind, threatening to go out. Snow fell in front of them like dust from on top of the ledge they took shelter under. Something was standing above them, something big. Moments felt like seconds as the small creaking of the creatures weight echoed throughout the small cave. Ahmes slowly unsheathed his sword and placed his palm outward, ready to unleash a small jet of flame and use up the rest of his magicka. The creaking stopped and an animal could be heard sniffing through the loud gusts of wind. Ahmes looked over his shoulder and looked through the corner of his eye to his friends. Frodnar held his sword's wodden grip, ready to unsheathe it at any moment. Dorthe's eyes screamed in fear and her body wouldn't stop shaking from both the cold and the terror. Claudia kept a calm and focused expression, slowly reaching for her bow and using her other hand to reach for her arrow. A large thump turned Ahmes' attention forward and an apelike creature leapt forward at them. Ahmes instantly recognized it as a frost troll when its third eye came into view. Time seemed to slow down as Ahmes released a large current of flame from his palm outward to the frost troll, engulfing it in beautiful orange flames that emitted a heat that felt like the missing sun, burning the entire cave with blinding light. The frost troll fell down in front of them, screaming in agony as the flame ate away at its frost covered skin. Claudia took the opportunity to take the beast out of its misery and fired an arrow with incredible accuracy straight into its heart, killing the creature. As the snow started to die down, darkness could be seen painting the sky. The group had lost track of time huddling for warmth, and the snow covering the sky made it almost impossible to find out what time it was. The air had become somewhat warmer, but not enough to stop them from the sheer cold. No stars could be seen in the night sky, and the moons were nowhere in sight. The first shift for lookout was given to Frodnar, who had groaned in response when he found out it was his turn. While the others slept close for warmth, Frodnar stayed near the entrance of the cave, shivering from the cold. He looked upwards to the night sky, the starless sky relaxed Frodnar, the empty blackness of the clouds above made him forget about his worries. "Hey," he heard Dorthe call out to him as she sat next to him. His heart rate began to drastically increase from the close proximity of the girl her loved. He looked at her and quickly averted his gaze back up at the sky in embarrassment, "You couldn't sleep?" he asked, afraid he'll mess up and say something stupid. "Yea, had been having a lot on my mind. And the cold makes it hard to sleep," Dorthe responded with a quick yawn. She relaxed next to him as she laid her hands behind herself and laid back in relaxation. Frodnar resisted the urge to look at her, if he caught a glimpse of her, he wouldn't know if he wanted to look away. Dorthe let out a disquieting sigh, "What's been on your mind?" Frodnar asked. "Its Ahmes, I'm worried about him you know? He's just so distant now. You remember what he was like before? He was full of life and was so relaxed. Now…" Dorthe trailed off. Frodnar had become jealous of the attention Ahmes had been getting from Dorthe. She always paid attention to Ahmes, Ahmes this, Ahmes that. Why couldn't she look at him? He wasn't the one who acted like a jerk. He shook his head of his thoughts; he didn't want to think like that. Ahmes obviously went through a lot, and he wasn't going to let his jealously corrupt his thoughts. "I don't know, I guess he is trying to not let weakness show. You remember when he broke down in front of us? It probably took a lot to do that," he said, trying to hide the anger in his voice. He wanted to change the topic, "So, how are you?" he asked as he turned to face her. He smiled weakly, "Cold, tired, hungry," she said as she rubbed her arms from the cold. Frodnar steeled himself, it was now or never. His heart raced as he scooted himself to her and picked her up, only to place her on his lap and lightly hug her from behind, "Does that help?" he asked shyly, looking at anything other than her back. Unknown to Frodnar, Dorthe's face had turned crimson red. She could feel his warmth envelop her back; the cold air had become a fleeting memory. Neither of them said anything, they both could feel each other's heart beats sync together in a fast rhythm. The moment was ruined from a small noise that was made in the darkness, "What was that?" Dorthe asked as she stood up. Frodnar became slightly annoyed, already missing Dorthe's warmth. He couldn't hear what Dorthe heard, "What sound?" Dorthe closed her eyes and actively try to hear for anything. The distinct sound of steel whipping the air could be heard as she tackled Frodnar to the ground, "Look out!" she screamed, just barely dodging a small knife fly through the darkness. The loud thump of the two hitting the ground awoke Ahmes and Claudia as they unsheathed their swords and turned towards the direction the knife came from. Claudia was the first to notice the small shadow lazily walk to them. Ahmes made a small torchlight, illuminating the area around them. Before them was a small lanky figure with red and black leather like armor. Multiple straps and buckles ran down the chest and across the waist of the figure with a black hood hiding the face of their attacker. "I've come for the one they call Ahmes, I will spare the rest of you if you stay out of my way," The figure said in a cold voice. Claudia gritted her teeth; she knew that the armor only belonged to one place…the Dark Brotherhood. She stood in front of Ahmes, blade pointing to the assassin, "You'll have to get through me," she said in confidence. The assassin looked to the ground, eyes darting to Dorthe to Frodnar and then back up to Claudia. "Very well then," he said as he moved forward in blinding speed. Claudia responded to the attacker by moving forward with equal conviction. The assassin's twin daggers whirled in the air, attempting to slice at Claudia as she blocked each attack. _He's fast, chances are that his daggers are I keep this up, he'll hit me for sure_ , Claudia thought as Skyforge steel met with curved daggers at instant speed. Fordnar got up from the snowy ground and pounced at the Dark Brotherhood member. _Damnit! He shouldn't attack blindly_ , Claudia thought as the assassin ducked Frodnar's blade and swept his legs, knocking Frodnar to the floor. Claudia jumped back as a small throwing knife flew at the assassin's hand. Ahmes fired flame bolts at the assassin, just to miss as the Brotherhood member dodged rolled each blast. Ahmes could feel his magicka waste away at each attempt to burn the assassin. He already used up a lot of magicka against the frost troll and to keep warm, paired with his tired and lagging body, hitting the assassin was near impossible. Dorthe went to Frodnar, helping him get up from the cold ground. The assassin took the opportunity to make his next attack as he sprinted to the two Riverwood natives. Ahmes immediately responded by moving at equal speed towards the assassin. The two locked blades and stared at each other in the eye, Ahmes gritted his teeth; this guy was good. Ahmes noticed that the assassin was a Redguard and that his face was expressionless, he wore the face of a killer. A single scar ran down his right eye, but he wasn't blind, far from it. "If it's me you want, then fight me you coward," Ahmes threatened as he used his other hand to shoot flames at the assassin, knowing that he wouldn't miss at close range. The brotherhood member ducked under the blast and rolled backwards as he threw a small dagger at Ahmes. Ahmes attempted to dodge, but his body wasn't as fast as his mind, and the small knife dug itself into his left leg. He screamed in agony and fell onto his knees, quickly removing the dagger from his leg. The small steel blade glinted in the darkness and was mostly covered in Ahmes' blood. Claudia intercepted the assassin and slashed at his head. The assassin ducked again and dodged roll towards Frodnar and Dorthe. The two attempted to slash at the Redguard, but couldn't get a hit on him. The darkness made it too hard to see him. The assassin rolled past them and quickly jumped up, grabbing Dorthe's sword arm and twisting it behind her back before pushing her to Frodnar, knocking both onto the ground. Claudia nocked an arrow and fired at the assassin, only to miss too. The assassin was prepared and knew that they wouldn't be able to do much in the darkness, but he was born in darkness. He made a sprint to Claudia, dodging more flying arrows and knocking her bow aside and quickly moving behind her. He placed his dagger at her neck and stood there, with her at his mercy. As Ahmes took in the scene, fear overtook him. His heartbeat pounded in his chest as Lars' death mirrored itself before him. He looked over to Claudia and the assassin, feeling helpless once again. "Claudia!" he screamed as he made a move to her. "Don't move!," the assassin yelled as he put the dagger closer to her neck. Ahmes began hyperventilating, Lars' dead eyes staring back at him in his mind's eye. His sight had become fuzzy and everything had turned black.

Ahmes couldn't feel any pain in his leg as he stood up; the wind's loud creaks disappeared alongside Ahmes' companions and the assassin that threatened them because of him. _Where am I? Where's the assassin?_ He thought to himself. He began shouting out for anyone, only to hear the sound of his own voice echo in the dark abyss in response. He looked around in the darkness and could only feel despair. The abyss ate away at him, as if his soul and hope was its sustenance. He looked upward, nothing. Everything had been reduced into nothingness. Just when he had accepted his fate to become one with the darkness, a voice called out to him. His entire body felt numb as he turned to source. Standing there was a boy with leather armor with brown messy hair that fell down to his shoulders. He gave a light smile as Ahmes' eyes widen and tears fell down his face. The boy's brown eyes looked into Ahmes' sapphire ones in glee. A Skyforge sword hung on his hip and a book was tucked under her arm. The boy waved at him lazily, "Hey it's been a while," he said sadly. Tears ran down Ahmes' face and he almost broke into sobs, "Lars."

Chapter 19

Ahmes turned to the friend that he saw die, darkness surrounding everything but Lars. "I can't believe it! You died, I saw it. A bandit slit your throat right in front of me," Ahmes said in disbelief and excitement. Lars' smile faltered for a moment, "Yeah that really sucked, but that doesn't matter right now. What matters is right here, right now," he said as Ahmes sat down in the dark abyss, no idea how to handle this. "Am I…dead?" Lars laughed heartily and sat down next to Ahmes. "No, right now you're fighting an assassin of the Dark Brotherhood, and he has a knife to Claudia's throat. I guess you are probably freaking out right now," he laughed. Ahmes' eyes widened as he stood up to his feet and turned to Lars, "That's right! I-I have to get back," he shouted frantically before sputtering incoherent sentences. Lars stood up and held Ahmes' shoulders, shaking him to calm him down. Moments later, Ahmes had made no intention of calming down, _well guess I gotta hit him,_ he slapped him as hard as he could. Ahmes stopped his random ramblings and stared at his dead friend in complete shock that he struck him, "W-where are we?" Ahmes asked looking around in the empty darkness. "Who knows? Considering that this is a dark endless abyss, I'm gonna make a bet and say were inside your mind," Lars replied with a smirk on his face. "I don't understand; why am I here?" Ahmes asked, ignoring the small insult. "You're here because there is something that you haven't been able to deal with, and it has been eating away at you, every night before you go to sleep. You see it don't you?" Lars asked, a serious expression painting his face. Ahmes sighed and looked into the dark abyss blankly, it was the same blank look on his face he had worn almost constantly now, "Your death, the fear in your eyes when you looked into mine as your throat cut open. I wake up wanting to scream so badly, but for some reason…I can't." his blank expression morphed into a look of pain, like he had been stabbed in the gut. "Sometimes I see Braith's dead eyes stare right at me, like she was trying to tell me that it was all my fault again or how it should've been me. You wanna know the worst part? She was right, It was all my fault! If I had been stronger-!" Ahmes' hysterics were halted as Lars slapped the upside of his head echoing a loud smack throughout the endless darkness. "You idiot! Do you really think that? That it's your fault?! Cause if you do, you're the biggest idiot of all Nirn," Lars yelled defiantly while crossing his arms in mock judgment. Ahmes looked up at his friend, disbelief and shock was written all over his face. He couldn't say any words; he could only look down in deep thought. Was it truly his fault? If he was stronger, he could've saved him…but he wasn't. There was no point in blaming himself over something that was truly out of his control, he realized. "Look, I know you have been through some shit. Trust me, I do. But if you let all the things you've seen and done really affect you this much; it will follow you around forever. What you _need_ to do is focus on what's happening right now," Lars explained as Ahmes stared at him. "But, I can't just let everything go, I mean, I saw you get your throat slit open! I can't forget what happened to you!" Ahmes screamed as he put his arm out in the air for emphasis. "I'm not saying let everything go, I am telling you that there are other things that are too important to let you be burdened by what happened. There are people counting on you right now. That assassin is after you, and you're friends are fighting for their lives for your sake! It's your responsibility to kick his fucking face in and you won't be able to beat him if you let your memories dictate your life," Lars explained. "But if I just forget that day, I will never learn and it will just happen aga-" Ahmes was interrupted as Lars smacked him upside the head again as hard as he could. "You're not getting it dumbass!" Ahmes rubbed the back of his head in pain, the hit pulsating in the back of his head and making it sore. "Sorry, but you are really getting on my nerves. You are not listening to what I am saying. I'm not telling you to forget, to let go, or to bottle it up. I'm telling you to move the fuck on!" Lars screamed as he stepped forward and shoved his arms in the air for dramatic effect. "I mean seriously, you can't be this stupid. You just can't! By the Nine!" Lars yelled into the dark abyss as if there was a sky there. "It's not that easy you know!" Ahmes said in frustration. "I never said it was, that's why I am here," Lars explained as he turned to face Ahmes and put his hands on his waist.

Ahmes had just sat there on his knees, his eyes were blank and his breathing was slow. The assassin had Claudia at knife point, and Ahmes made no move. He just sat there. The cold air nipped at her skin, and her movements were halted by the assassin's knife to her throat. If only she had a distraction, if not she would have to resort to…that. And she didn't want to resort to turning at any cost unless it was completely necessary. Right when she had internally asked for a distraction, Frodnar gave her one by getting up and charging at the assassin with a loud roar, despite the pain coursing throughout his body. Instead of cutting Claudia's throat like he had promised, the assassin panicked and threw a small throwing knife at Frodnar. The knife stabbed into Frodnar's leg, but he kept moving anyways. Claudia took the opportunity that was presented to her and elbowed the assassin as hard as she could, effectively knocking him back a few steps. The assassin coughed uncontrollably, and grits his teeth in anger, throwing yet another small knife at Ahmes' unmoving form. Claudia moved instinctively and put her body in front of his, taking the knife into her shoulder, making a loud hiss of pain as the knife entered her skin. She grabbed the knife in less than an instant and pulled it out, screaming while doing so. She looked into Ahmes' blank eyes and stared into them. He was gone, lost in his own little world, and she couldn't do anything about it. She turned around and pointed her sword at the attacker, doing in whatever in her power could to protect Ahmes. _Even if I have to resort to using that power, I will protect Ahmes no matter what!_ The huntress thought to herself as she leapt forward into battle.

"What do you mean? That's why I am here?!" Ahmes asked as he stood up to Lars face in a threatening manner. Lars lightly smiled at the face his friend was making, but sighed in the thought of his foolishness. He placed a hand on Ahmes' shoulder and stared him right in the eye, "I'm here to remind you of who you are Ahmes," he declared. Ahmes took a step back, "Remind me of who I am? I'm Ahmes, you don't _need_ to tell me anything!" "And that is where you are wrong. You are not the same person I once knew, and I can give you one really good reason that will blow your mind!" Lars pointed his finger right in Ahmes' face and Ahmes gave him a look that said, _Try me._ Lars stood back a few steps and gave a few moments of silence for dramatic effect, finally he said, "How long has it been?" "How long has what _been_?" Ahmes replied sarcastically using air quotes. Lars was slightly frustrated with Ahmes' smartass attitude, but he smirked at what he was going to say next, "When was the last time you even gaze an inkling of thought about your dream?" Lars smirked in victory as Ahmes' face morphed into a frown and his eyes widen in realization. Ahmes really didn't know how to reply to that, he had been so focused on the lives that had been lost that he never thought about his dream on becoming an adventurer. It seemed like a childish fantasy now, the adventure he wanted wasn't like this. It didn't have people he cared about dying before him. His dream was riding dragons and saving maidens from tall castles, slaying monsters and making friends along the way. Had he been so affected by what happened that he truly lost himself, Ahmes sat back down in the abyss, knowing the answer to his own question already. "What ever happened to the guy that never gave up? The guy who always dreamed of becoming an adventurer? The guy who met any challenge head on? The guy who envisioned a towering black knight when the going got tough, coming back each time? We both know that guy is still there," Lars said confidently. Ahmes looked up at him, Lars really looked so much cooler when he was trying to inspire him, almost as if he was the one who never gaze up, he thought with a small chuckle. "He's still here," Ahmes said with a chuckle. "Really? Cause I don't see him, all I see is a tiny version of himself," Lars replied with a chuckled in his voice as well. The two shared a short laugh, Ahmes had actually felt better. "Hey, you finally smiled. It's been a while since you actually laughed like this isn't it?" Lars asked as he helped Ahmes stand back up from his spot. Ahmes looked down to the ground and smiled warmly, "I don't know if I can ever forget about what happened, or if I will live with the guilt. I don't know if I am going to die today or tomorrow, or the next day. I don't know how many people I am going to lose," he looked up to Lars, life had finally returned to his eyes. "But I am going to do the best I can, even if it means I will die," he said with confidence and a fire in his eyes. Lars smiled warmly, _he's back._ In an instant, the dark abyss morphed into a dark landscape. The sky was a dark blue with lighter blue clouds decorating the night sky. Rain was falling down lightly, but neither of them paid any mind to it. The ground had turned into a small battlefield littered with rubble and weapons, but no corpses could be found in the endless landscape. It was the place where the Hunt was, but it was different. The sky wasn't black, there were no dead trees, no bodies littered on the ground for miles. In the distance was a small hill and on top of that hill rested Ahmes' sword. The sword made for him by Dorthe, the inscriptions glowing ever so slightly in a shade of orangish red, burning as if it came out of a forge. The two boys smiled at the blade, knowing that this was the last time they would ever see each other, and yet it felt so bittersweet. Ahmes made way to the sword, ignoring the weapons littered on the ground below him and the rain that decorated the blue sky. "Hey," Lars' voice pierced through the silence, "You know that's hell you're walking into," he said with a small smile, both knowing that taking the sword would send him back to reality. Ahmes warmly smiled, "Thank you Lars," he said warmly as the sword glowed a brilliant red, calling out for him. Lars looked upon Ahmes' back, reminding him of the person Ahmes truly was. "Because of you, I have a new dream," he said warmly as he slowly started to move to the sword. "Oh yeah, and what is that adventurer?" Lars asked in a slight mocking tone. Ahmes smile spread to cheek to cheek, "My dream is…" the next words that came out of Ahmes' mouth were blank, but the two boys knew what he had. Lars laughed lightly, knowing what Ahmes' answer was, "that's a good dream. Don't ever forget this one like you did the last one." Ahmes climbed the hill and grasped the sword, red hot flames had erupted from the hilt of the sword, enveloping Ahmes' hand and filling him with memories with Lars, "This flame…its," Lars nodded knowingly behind him. "That's right, I was wondering when you would figure it out," he said mockingly. Ahmes looked at the flame warmly, with tears running down his face as he unsheathed the sword out of the ground and raised it defiantly into the air. "I will become…" Ahmes began as a white light enveloped everything and Ahmes closed his eyes. Lars smiled in the light as his last words became nothing more than an incoherent whisper, " **See you later, Ahmes**."

Everyone but the incapacitated Ahmes had been fighting the assassin simultaneously for about a half an hour, only resulting them to be too tired to fight anymore. Frodnar and Claudia were covered in blood and knife wounds, Dorthe laid out on the ground in excruciating pain. The assassin lazily walked over to Ahmes' position, brandishing his daggers as he inched closer and closer to him. Claudia weakly stood up using everything she had, and charged at the Redguard. The assassin responded to the weak charge with two more knifes thrown at her, Claudia saw the two knifes in midair and used her sword to deflect them, but the movement caused her body to fall from exhaustion. The Redguard walked ever closer to Ahmes, "you shouldn't risk you're life for one. This one isn't important enough," the Redguard said in a cold voice only to have Claudia grab his ankle in defiance. "He's important enough for me!" she screamed as the Redguard kicked her in the face. "Foolish girl," he said calmly. The group watched as he walked only a few meters from Ahmes now, all feared they have failed. "The Black Sacrament calls for his blood," he said as the knife rose over the assassin's head, ready to give the final blow. Claudia looked on in horror, finally understanding what Ahmes must have felt like the day Lars died. Right when he was about to strike, a burning blinding light exploded around Ahmes and completely envelop him. The assassin jumped back just in time to avoid the flames and looked on the dying explosion carefully as the rest stared at Ahmes in complete awe. As the flames slightly died down, Ahmes could be seen standing within the flame, completely unharmed with a similar fire burning in his eyes. The burning light illuminated everything around him, like a beacon of light that refused to die out. Ahmes' eyes turned from their normal blue to golden amber that glowed as bright as the flames. His face no longer looked on in a blank expression and refused to ever do so again. "I will…become a hero," he said in a deep voice that echoed triumphantly. "What? I don't understand! You were out of magicka," the Redguard screamed in frustration. Ahmes lifted his non sword hand and stared at the flames that moved around it, he clenched his hand into a fist, resolve seething off him like the flames. "These flames aren't like any other flame." Ahmes explained as the flames spread out to each of his friends, closing their wounds and giving out a warm feeling. As the flames enveloped Claudia, an image of Lars appeared in her mind's eye, he was smiling at her, helping her when she was down. _Lars?_ She asked herself in thought. "These flames aren't just from my own resolve. These are the flames of Lars' life. He never left me! He was always here, protecting me!" Ahmes stated as he thumped his arm to his chest. He then pointed his sword at his attacker, "I am going to defeat you!" he yelled in a triumphant roar. "Shut up!," The assassin cried as he threw two long knifes at Ahmes, moving faster through the air than before. Ahmes' eyes narrowed at the blades and time seemed to stop as he deflected them with relative ease. The flames now focusing and becoming a Flame Cloak, circling around his feet and burning the ice into steam. Ahmes took a step forward and dashed to the assassin in a sprint with both hands on the hilt of his sword, "I won't lose to you!" he screamed as he slashed at the assassin, hitting him straight in to chest, but not enough to be fatal. The Redguard jumped back, nearly avoiding death. _What the hell is happening, when did this kid become so strong?_ Ahmes stared at the assassin narrowly as the Redguard's image changed into the black demon, pushing him further with his purpose to become a hero. The assassin moved forward with both blades in the air, Ahmes took a stance as he prepared for the next strike. As the assassin slashed down, Ahmes dodged to the left and slashed at his exposed neck, only for the assassin to duck, but getting burned from being too close to the Flame Cloak. He stepped back and threw two knifes once again, only to have Ahmes deflect them and dash forward again with more conviction. _Nothing is working!_ The assassin thought in a panic as he dashed forward, ready to meet Ahmes' attack head on, gradually feeling the flames creep up on him. "Take this!" Ahmes screamed as he made his final slash, betting everything on the line. The assassin moved, betting everything as well, only to fell the burns weaken his resolve and the speed of his last strike. Blades slashed down, meeting each other in a fury of loud steel clashing together. The sound of a sword meeting flesh resounded throughout the small cave, as blood flew into the ceiling. The two stood there, waiting for the final moment of the fight to end as the Redguard fell into the ground face first, dead before making the fall. The flames around Ahmes died down and he stood tall, looking straight into the night sky as the clouds disappeared. Stars and moons finally appearing again alongside Ahmes' reborn dream as Ahmes stood victorious.

Chapter 20

Ahmes let out a sigh of relief as he fell down to his knees, that fight had taken a lot out of him. He sat there breathing out long heavy breathes as the flames around him died down as if they weren't there in the first place. In the distance, the sun had started to peak through the impenetrable darkness. He looked around and noticed that his friends had taken multiple hits for him, Dorthe was bruised up and Frodnar was covered in blood and scratches. Claudia looked like she had taken the worst beating; her red hair was messy and tangled from the fight. Blood leaked down her body like a small waterfall, and stab wounds could be found throughout her entire body. Ahmes stood slowly and walked over to Claudia; he sat down and used his fire to help close the wounds that decorated her body. Although he had already healed some of the wounds with his flame before, there were still many stabs and cuts that haven't completely closed yet. "Was there any poison on the blades?" he asked in a serious, concerned tone. His voice had deepened slightly, almost as if the experience made him age inwardly and outwardly. Claudia smiled at him light, glad he was okay, "There was poison on the blade, but it wasn't lethal. The blade's only purpose was to slow us down. It seemed to have some kind of stamina steeling enchantment on it, and the poison most likely was made to lock the muscles. I could feel it try to paralyze me through the cuts," she explained as he emitted a warm heat around her open wounds. He looked over to the others quickly and saw that Frodanr and Dorthe were checking up on each other, he made a small smile at the sight before checking back on Claudia and tending to her wounds. None of you are able to go the rest of the way; I want all of you to stay here. I'll make a fire that will last for a few hours, but I'm going to leave and meet the Greybeards on my own. I'll come back down and I'll tell you if I find anything that will help us find the Dragonborn," Ahmes explained in a commanding voice as he finished up healing her wounds with his flames. Claudia didn't like the idea of Ahmes going up to High Hrothgar on his own, but understood why, the others would only slow him down with their injuries, and this way, the chances of anyone getting hurt lessened. She respected his decision and nodded in agreement. Ahmes stood from his crouched position and stretched his back as he placed his hands on the back of his waist. He could feel his back crack a little bit as he made a relaxing sigh. He grabbed and sheathed his sword and made up the mountain, leaving Claudia to explain the situation to Dorthe and Frodnar.

The wind had died down considerably, and light began to bask the land with its presence as Ahmes walked down the snowy path. The ground crunched beneath his feet with each step, and the cold air nipped at his face and exposed neck. He noticed small alters with stone figures along the path, but paid no attention to them other than its initial existence. The sight of the various mountains below relaxed Ahmes ironically, and the way the sun had started to appear illuminating the land filled Ahmes with a sense of tranquility. As he walked down the path, Ahmes noticed a small rock with a ragged and torn brown flag. He had to be close now, he realized as he increased his pace into a small jog, catching more cold air into his face. The path had been starting to get completely covered in snow, but Ahmes already knew where the path lay. The stone path could be seen again as it made a small turn to the right behind a ledge, completely obscuring all view of what sat behind it. Ahmes' hopes rose up, his gut feeling telling him that High Hrothgar was just up ahead. He ran up the icy path, almost slipping on the steps once or twice before making the turn. He smiled widely as the sight of a large castle greeted him, its stone tower extending high. The fort had a pair of stairwells that lead up to the building. The monastery sat on top of the icy plane, with only the sound of the wind and snow accompanying it. The sub-zero temperatures in the air seemed to thicken, creating a somewhat ominous presence. Ahmes made the final steps of the journey and walked up to the left set of stairs, passing by a large chest and a few sacks as he made through the center. When he finally made it to the door, he took a good look at it. The stone door was far smaller than he imagined, only being about a head or two taller than himself. The door was old and covered in various cracks at the side. Across the center of the door was an intricate design, almost resembling a goblet for some reason. "Well, this is it," he said to himself as he opened the stone door to High Hrothgar.

Dorthe had been examining the daggers and throwing knifes the assassin used while sitting in front of the small fire Ahmes conjured. She was somewhat irked that Ahmes decided to go the High Hrothgar on his own, but understood his intention. At least this was she got to take a good look at the Dark Brotherhood's weapons, she thought to herself. The throwing knives were simple in design, double sided and double bladed, the small steel knives were obviously made to be hidden throughout the body and to be used at a moment's notice. Simple, but effective especially for assassins, the dagger however, wasn't so simple. It appeared to be made of ebony, finely made too. She could tell from the faint green markings that the daggers were made to steal stamina, which was pretty impressive. She was never good at enchanting, never getting a good try at it, but she appreciated those who took the time to do it. It took a decent amount of skill to get just the right enchantments, and these daggers were perfect for this type of assassin. She had also been impressed by the knives; she couldn't wait to forge some throwing knives of her own. No doubt the idea was smart enough for her to attempt to imitate, but she knew that throwing the blades with efficiency and accuracy would take some time. Especially since the knives were double sided and double bladed, she would most likely cut herself on accident before figuring out how to throw them as effectively as the assassin did. "How long do you think it's gonna take?" Frodnar asked, interrupting her thoughts. Claudia shrugged, looking intently into the fire, "Did you get a good look into his eyes, it looked like he's back to normal," Dorthe said, happy that her friend was back. Frodnar gave an absent nod, not really paying attention to the conversation. Claudia smiled back at Dorthe, a smile shared between the two, knowing that everything was going to be okay. "It won't be long now till Ahmes comes back down, hopefully we'll get an idea where the Dragonborn is," Claudia said, hope lacing her voice.

As Ahmes took the first step into the monastery, the first thing he noticed was the torches that hung on the walls. There was no fire lit, and it had looked like there hasn't been a fire in the torches for years and spider webs were draped alongside them. The silence inside the fort was eerie; even the slightest pin drop would echo throughout the lengthy halls. Only skylights could illuminate the room with a small glow that was dim at best. There were various banners hanging throughout the interior of High Hrothgar, they resembled dirty rags with a strange language that Ahmes had never seen before written across them. Some banners fell to the floor and had become nothing more than torn pieces of cloth now. Pillars adjourned the room and broken clay pots were scattered all over the ground, it gave Ahmes an uneasy feeling. The intricate design that was inscribed on the door outside was engraved all across the ceiling and on several pillars. Ahmes took cautious steps forward through the main hall and up the multiple stairs leading to the upper level of High Hrothgar. As he made his way up the stairs, he noticed the halls to his left and right, giving the fort the feeling as if it was an elaborate labyrinth. As he made it up to the higher level, he made a quick right, hoping to find any sign of life as he walked down the elongated hall. Walking down the hall gave Ahmes an unnerving feeling, dim lights protruded through the open windows and a strange smell filled the air. While searching for the source of the strange scent, Ahmes' gaze turned towards his right, where an entrance to another room caught his attention. He jumped over the small gap that separated the hall from the entrance and landed, emitting a loud thump that echoed through the halls. As he peered into the room, hopelessness and terror spread throughout his body like a fever. Inside was a large circular table that took up most of the space in the room, laid out across the floor and the round table was the dead bodies of the Greybeards.

Chapter 21

The odor alone had made Ahmes want to vomit his stomach across the floor. The rotting stench of decaying flesh could be enough to make the hairs on the back of anyone's neck stand. Dry blood painted the table and the walls around the room; they have been dead for what seemed like years. Some of the Greybeards' eyes were still open and white, giving a lifeless and blatant expression. They had resembled more like Draugr than men now. Their once grey robes had become blood covered tattered pieces of cloth that had gaping holes where their chests should be. Bugs and rats plagued the room with their presence, occasionally moving across the room in a hurry. Their skin had become pale and tight, most likely giving off a leathery feel to them. One of their mouths had been wide open, their jaws falling off and filled with maggots. The banners that hung throughout the main hall lay in ragged pieces across the room, no doubt ripped from where they once were. Tears welled up in Ahmes' eyes, the smell of decaying flesh and the feeling of the dreading creeping of hopelessness almost drove him to full on sobs. Ahmes steeled his nerves as he approached the dead bodies, carefully lifting one of them into his arms. It had been surprisingly light, given that he usually didn't carry people before. He slowly walked outside to the courtyard, opening the courtyard doors with a powerful kick. Ahmes ignored the cold air that hit him when he walked outside into the daylight, carefully placing the dead body to the ground. He walked back inside and repeated the action of carrying their bodies over and over, feeling the weight of them becoming heavier each time. The knowledge of their deaths had become a weight on Ahmes that he had felt before numerous of occasions. When he placed the final body next to the others in a fine line, he made a long sigh, knowing that finding the Dragonborn would be near impossible now. He decided quickly that the bodies deserved to be buried, and made a quick prayer that their souls were safe in Sovengard.

Claudia had become worried; it had been hours since Ahmes left for high Hrothgar. Did he meet some kind of trouble on the way? Was he okay? What if he…? She shook off the thoughts of doubt, it was Ahmes. Whatever trouble went his way, he probably would've handled it already…right? Dorthe had been too busy figuring out the exact design of the assassin's weapons to notice anything. Frodnar sat close to Dorthe, trying to pick up a conversation with her every so often, only to be shut down by her concentration on the weapons before her. The wind and her increasing worried thoughts were Claudia's only companion. She felt somewhat excluded from the small group, and that feeling became ever strong at the moment. She wanted to express her worry for Ahmes, but she was too afraid of what the others might say, so she stayed silent. She felt uncomfortable and out of place, she rarely felt this back home with Lars and Braith, but that time was over now. Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of distant crunching of snow. She hoped it was Ahmes, but it could've equally be some kind of frost troll or frostbite spider. She unsheathed her weapon and peered onto the sound was coming from. Dorthe and Frodnar followed her example and unsheathed their weapons, Dorthe holding the assassin's throwing knife in her other hand, Fordnar frantically gripping the end of his axe. The shape of Ahmes appeared in the distance, greeting them with a small smile followed by a grim look to the side. Although they knew there was no threat, Claudia's worries only increased, that look didn't harbor any good news. "Well? What did they tell you? Could they find the Dragonborn?" Dorthe asked, hope lacing her voice. Ahmes shook his head, "What did they say?" Frodnar asked. Ahmes stayed silent, Claudia immediately knowing what had happened based on that look alone. "Are they?" Claudia asked, walking up to Ahmes and placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. He slowly nodded, "I already buried their bodies, they have been gone for years," he said sullenly. His sapphire eyes expressing disappointment with a hint of a fire burning inside. "How did this happen? Aren't the Greybeards supposed to be impossible to kill? I mean, they have the voice that can shake the whole world! How can they get offed?" Frodnar asked, not believing what he was hearing. Ahmes shook his head, "It might've made sense if they all died from natural causes, and they weren't the youngest people in Skyrim. But…There was blood everywhere. And holes were pierced into their chests." The group looked at each other, wondering what could've possibly murdered all the Greybeards. "Maybe it was the Thalmor," Frodnar suggested with spite. His hatred for the Thalmor wasn't a secret, but then again. Who doesn't hate the Thalmor? "Maybe, but the Thalmor would've had to march all the way up the Throat of the world, and only a few Thalmor stepped foot in Skyrim. No, this is most likely done by one person, or a small group of people," Ahmes concluded, crossing his arms with one of his hands covering his mouth in a thinking pose. "What could've possibly been able to do that? There aren't many people in Skyrim that can even wield type of power," Dorthe asked, Ahmes' eyes turned dark, his bangs covering them. Claudia thought it over in her head a few times before coming up with a conclusion, "Do you think it was the Hunt?" Claudia asked Ahmes, who kept his gaze under his black bangs. "I know the Hunt is strong, but can it really be that strong? I mean, that's impossible right?" Dorthe asked. Ahmes lifted his gaze from under his bangs, his expression turning into complete anger. "If was anyone, it could be him. He is the most logical choice," Ahmes explained as his inner rage seeped out and small warmth emitted from him. Claudia felt terrible; she knew that this entire journey would now be stunted. Without the Greybeards, finding the Dragonborn would be impossible. Her gaze fell to the white cold ground, she knew that Ahmes most likely went through this in his own head already; _he must be frustrated beyond belief._ "Although the hunt most likely stays in one place, it's possible that the Hunt went to High Hrothgar. If it truly was the Hunt that killed them all, then we do truly need the Dragonborn," Ahmes said, knowing that the Greybeards were their only shot at finding the Dragonborn. "But without the Greybeards, how can we even think of finding the Dragonborn," Frodnar asked. Claudia kept her gaze on the ground and focused on the sword that hung on Ahmes' hip. Her mind instantly flashed back to stories her mother told her before she left, the stories of mighty dragons slain by the Dragonborn and the Blades. "The Blades! If anyone knows where the Dragonborn is, it's them!" Claudia explained raising her head to look in Ahmes' eyes, proud of her own solution. "That's good, we have another lead, but where are the Blades? It's not like everyone knows where they are," Frodnar replied, skeptical about Claudia's solution. "Then I guess we have to find the Blades ourselves," Ahmes declared with conviction. He began the journey down the mountain, "Were heading to Riften," Ahmes said as he made past them all. Claudia could understand his reasoning that Riften was the closest city besides Whiterun, but since they have already been to Whiterun and no one mentioned the Blades, he knew that looking there would be pointless. Claudia followed Ahmes down the mountain without question. Dorthe and Frodnar gave each other a skeptical look, but smiled, doubts being erased as long as they were a team. They followed the Companions down the mountain, resolved to see this through to the end.

Chapter 22

The trip back down the mountain had been uneventful, since they knew the way; it didn't take long to get back down. Ahmes wanted to get down the tall mountain as fast as possible, if they didn't reach the base of the mountain before nightfall, the conditions would've been disastrous. After what felt like an eternity, they reached to the bottom and noticed that the horses they had borrowed were missing. "Great, just great!" Frodnar yelled as he threw his arms to the air, "How are we getting to Riften now, oh great leader?" he asked sarcastically, turning to Ahmes in frustration. Dorthe and Claudia were confused from Frodnar's outburst, sure it was frustrating that the horses were gone, but why make it sound like it was Ahmes' fault? And why did he think he was the leader? It wasn't like they actually made a vote or something. The two girls shook it off as Frodnar being Frodanr and didn't pay much attention to it. Ahmes sighed deeply and made off to the direction he assumed Riften was, "I guess were walking the way," he said as he made way to Riften. "Ahmes wait!" Claudia called out to him. Ahmes reluctantly turned to her, hoping that what she had to say next wouldn't take too much time. He didn't want it to become dark soon, if it did while they were on the road, he probably would've ended up liking night up at the Throat of the World instead. "We should get supplies, if something happens on the way and we aren't prepared, we'll be lucky to survive," Claudia explained. Dorthe spoke up, "She's right, were going to need everything we can get if were going by foot." Ahmes reluctantly nodded in agreement, and the group made way to the small markets in Ivarstead, gathering everything they needed for the trip. Unfortunately for them, the only place that sold anything was the Vilemyr Inn. The inn wasn't as crowded since the last time Ahmes visited it, but imperial soldiers remained in the small inn nevertheless. With laughter and the sounds of Bardic songs playing in the background, Ahmes asked the inn keeper if there was anything that they could buy to eat. Sadly, the inn keeper only had ale and small foods that most likely won't help them for the trip. Collectively, the group could only buy small amounts of the already miniscule scraps. As they left the inn with only around ten Septims each to their name, they cursed their bad luck. The sun had already begun its slow decent into night, and the group knew that there wasn't any room for the inn for all of them. Only thing to do now was to start heading out to Riften, hoping that nothing would interrupt the trip and halt them.

Throughout the entire walk to Riften, Frodnar's frustration could be seen by everyone around him. Dorthe was the first to notice it; he had been in a foul mood ever since they made to the base of the mountain. She couldn't figure out exactly why Frodnar was frustrated, but could only guess that it was related to Ahmes. Every time Frodnar looked at Ahmes, his face would become a deeper frown. She tried to recall anything Ahmes did or say to Frodnar that would invoke this kind of reaction, but she had drawn a blank. All Ahmes ever did for them was help and protect them when he could. Sure he had been depressed and angry before, but Ahmes seemed fine now, right? There shouldn't be any reason for Frodnar to blame or be angry at Ahmes for any real good reason. She decided to let Frodnar's frustration pass and to not pay too much attention to it.

When night fell, half of the group retired for the night. Frodnar and Dorthe decided to retire to their tents; Ahmes and Claudia sat in front of the fire intently, enjoying the small amount of silence that filled the air. Claudia stared at Ahmes and looked intently into his eyes; they weren't blank and lifeless like before. Instead, his eyes held a calm demeanor that was filled with memories of a different time. She wanted to know more about him, and those eyes that spoke volumes of his character. "Ahmes," she said as his attention moved from the fire to her. His sapphire eyes reflected the fires and made his blue eyes shine in the dark. She almost felt entrapped into his shining eyes as she continued, "Why did you want to go on an adventure? That was your dream right? Why did you have that dream in the first place?" she asked as the flames of the fire flickered on her face. Ahmes smiled lightly and stared back into the fire, "I made a promise a long time ago, and well…technically it wasn't a promise. It's a little difficult to explain" "Well, we have a lot of time," Claudia responded. Ahmes' face twisted slightly, uncertainty plagued his mind before he continued. "When I was younger, my brother and I…we always played adventurers. It was our favorite game to play. We told each other that we would become real adventurers together…" he responded as his small smile began to turn into a small frown. "Brother? I never heard you talk about having a brother before," Claudia said, curious where this conversation was heading. "Well, we were never really blood related, but he was around all the time. He was the only kid in the entire village that was my friend. After his parents died, my parents adopted him and he became a part of the family. I don't like talking about him. You see…he-" He didn't know if he could continue. It was a very touchy subject and he didn't want to talk about it. Claudia could understand this; she too had family that she lost a long time ago. "It's okay, you don't have to talk about it," Claudia said, sympathy lacing her words. Ahmes shook his head with conviction, "No it's ok, and I trust you. I want to tell you," he said as a small blush covered Claudia's face. She didn't know he trusted her so much that he would tell her something she knew was that important to him. "See, we were best friends, we would do everything together. It was probably the happiest time in my life, but one day. He was taken as I slept, someone kidnapped him as he was sleeping. I don't know how it happened, but my father tried to stop them and ended up with a big gash on his legs. He couldn't walk for weeks. It completely destroyed us, and it took forever for us to even mention his name without getting depressed and cry. When my dad left for the Hunt, he told me he was going to find him. I knew it was impossible though. That was one of the reasons I wanted to have an adventure in the first place. I wanted to find my brother while keeping our promise at the same time. I haven't really thought about him or my promise for so long that other reasons became more important to me. I honestly feel terrible for that, but he's probably dead now," Ahmes said solemnly as he stared at the floor, tears threatening to fall down his face. Claudia stood and hugged Ahmes from behind while digging her face into his back. She noticed that he was incredibly warm as her heart went out to him. "Im sorry, I didn't know you have been hurting so bad this entire time," she said, hoping that she could make him feel better somehow. Ahmes blushed slightly from the close contact from the beautiful redhead that was trying to make him feel better. "I'm the same, when I was a little girl, my mother died and no one told me why. No one ever even told me anything about my father, I don't even remember him. It was always just me. I have been alone this entire time," She said as her own tears started to wet Ahmes' back. Ahmes turned around in Claudia's embrace and hugged her back. His chin rested on her head as her face became red from the action of her black haired friend. As her beating heart started to calm down, she closed her eyes in the embrace, "What was his name?" she asked as her grip tightened around him. He smiled lightly from the memories of his brother, "Yunos," he said.

When they had finally reached to Riften, they all breathed a long sigh of relief. The pass couple of days it took to Riften were uneventful, but the sheer intensity of the journey left them all physically exhausted. At any moment, something could've attacked them any ended their lives. To know that intensity would vanish gave them a sense of relief that they didn't think they would ever get to feel again. As they passed through the gates into Riften, their relief immediately turned into dread as pained expressions painted their faces. The city was worn and torn, broken down and smelled like trash. The amount of dirt that covered the buildings was tremendous. A small well stood at the center of the town and around that well were old, almost broken down market stands that had dirty old looking citizens behind them. The entire town had given them all the feeling as if they walked into a town that was hit by a storm and then plagued by rats. They cautiously started to walk through the town in hopes of finding the Jarl; they had hoped that if anyone could give them leads to the Blades, it was the Jarl. Their search, however, was interrupted as a young man with a dark leather hood covering his face sped past by them, with a small sack of gold in his hands. As soon as the thief passed by, guards roughly pushed them aside and sprinted straight for the young man. Arrows were fired at him in multiple directions that ended up as random shots into the air as he dodged them with little ease. "Stop! Thief!" one of the guards shouted as the thief dodged even more arrows as he seemingly ran up a building wall and jumped from roof to roof. Nearly losing the guards on his tail before turning around and yelling, "Sorry gentleman! But this is going to be the day you will remember as the day you almost caught, the King of Thieves," the young man bragged as he began to run roof to roof once again. Ahmes noticed how slow and inaccurate the guards were and decided to help. Ahmes ran forward as he created a small flame in his hands, focusing on the direction on the thief went. He inwardly smiled as he caught up to the thief that had made yet another leap to another rooftop. The thief saw him for a moment before smiling to himself, "Oh ho, a new challenger appears! I hope you remember this day well, cause it's the day you almost-" The thief was interrupted as a flame sped at his head, only to be dodged at the last second. "Hey! I wasn't finished ass hat!" The thief roared as he spun around and landed in front of Ahmes, who stopped in his chase in response. The two stared each other down for a moment as they both slowly unsheathed their swords. Ahmes was surprised to see the thief unsheathing a large broadsword from his back. He expected the thief to own two daggers, or something that would at least resembles a thief. _This guy is full of surprises_ , Ahmes thought to himself. What surprised him the most however was the sword itself, the blade was blood red. It almost appeared as if it was made by red glass and gleamed a small red light that would go unnoticed by most. He could feel the small traces of magicka that were held inside the red sword. "I never get to use this thing, but I guess there's a first for everything," the thief chuckled before he dashed to Ahmes at inhuman speed. Ahmes was almost knocked over by the sheer forced the thief carried with him. _By the Nine! This guy is stronger than Bratih!_ He thought to himself as the steel and red blades clashed together creating a harmonic tune when swords connected. The speed of the thief's slashes were so fast, that Ahmes was starting to have a difficult time catching up with him. As the thief raised his sword overhead, Ahmes took the initiative and shot fire outwards into his chest. The thief flew into the air from the flames contact and fell to the floor a few feet away. He chuckled a little bit, dusting himself off as he stood back up again. "Man, that was impressive, not many people ever land a hit on me," he said as the sword started to make an ominous glow. "but playtime is over, now I'm-" The thief was interrupted again as arrows flew at him from behind Ahmes. The guards had caught up with the thief and began their assault once more, which created an incredible amount of frustration for the young man. "By The Nine! Can you guys please give it a break for like two seconds? I am trying to have a conversation here!" He screamed as he quickly dodged the arrows and quickly climbed the nearest building. Jumping from to rooftop once again, escaping everyone's grasp. "You! Don't move! We have a lot of questions for you, boy!" one of the guards shouted to Ahmes as he turned towards the guards while sheathing his sword. His growing frustration started to give him a migraine. "If you jokers didn't show just now, I would've stopped him," Ahmes explained calmly while sighing in frustration. The guards looked to one another before moving towards Ahmes and tying his wrists together with rope. "Hey, what are you doing!?" Ahmes yelled as he felt the rope tighten around his wrists. "We are bringing you in for questioning," the guard calmly replied as the rope became tighter than before, making Ahmes grit his teeth in pain. The guards began pushing Ahmes forward to move, silently accepting his capture and moving alongside the guards.

Claudia didn't know how to react when Ahmes ran forward ahead of all of them to apprehend the thief. _What is he thinking? Why would he involve himself like that? He didn't know anything about the thief or Riften, how could he know that he should go after the thief?_ She asked herself as the image of Ahmes' back disappeared into the distance of various old looking houses and broken fences. "Should we go after him?" Dorthe asked, concern written all over her face. Claudia sighed, "No, I think he has it handled by himself," she replied as the sight of the guards dragging someone towards a random building came into view. The group watched and realized that the person the guards were dragging was Ahmes, and the feeling of doubt and confusion completely overwhelming her. "He's got it handled huh?" Dorthe asked sarcastically, earning a small chuckle from Frodnar and annoying Claudia. Claudia then made a furious stride over to Ahmes and the guards holding him, following them to the temple of Mara.

* * *

So that is everything I had so far for this story, if anyone like it and would want me to continue this story dont hesitate to ask, or if they want to pick up the story, go right ahead. So if you noticed the Shadow in this was originally called the Hunt. I like the Hunt named alot more when I thought about it because in this version of the story, The Hunt for the Dragonborn (The original version), it is somewhat more mysterious that way. the people of Skyrim call it the Hunt expecting it to be multiple monsters or something like that because they have no knowledge of it. Also it works for the title of the story becuase it is a hunt for the Dragonborn. Now if I end up working on this story again and you dont want spoilers, stop reading from here. If you want to pick up the story, here is the main parts the story is built on. So...

 **SPOILERS BELOW!**

Ok, so if you havent figured it out by now. The Hunt is the Dragonborn. The point of the story is the fall and corruption of the Dragonborn into this berserker who kills anything in his path. If you noticed there is some points where the story uses a weird gibberish language. That is actually just english with the Ceasar Cipher. Similar to Gravity Falls hidden messages (you find alot more of these in Shadow of the Dragonborn). So what would pretty much the story was gonna be was Ahmes and his group of friends travel all over Skyrim to find any lead of the Dragonborn, they eventually find the guy who calls himself the dragonborn, but as they try to beat the Hunt again, the Hunt starts using Dragon Shouts and kills the fake Dragonborn. The fake Dragonborn is revealed to be the Last Dragonborn and they escape with someone probably dying (didnt really decide who). The fake dragonborn was just someone who studied with the greybeards before their destruction by the Hunt. (kinda like Ulfric). The one thing Ireally like about this story is that only a very few amount of characters in this story are actually OC's. Only Ahmes, Claudia, and the thief (who actually turns out to be Yunos btw) are OC's, while the rest are mostly the young kids used from the game. Ahmes was based of Blaster Blade from Cardfight Vanguard, but only in name and some personality traits. Claudia is based off Aela the Huntress and Pyhrra from RWBY. The point of Claudia is that she is the daughter of Aela the Huntress and that is supposed to be revealed somewhat later on. however, it is her father that is more important who I choose to reveal way later in the story and her father is actually the Last Dragonborn (The Hunt). The way i would use this was to show who the Dragonborn was like before his fall. The name Claudia is actually from the voice actress of Aela the Huntress. The fall of the Dragonborn was something I would leave somewhat vague until later unless I choose otherwise, but what pretty much happened was a group of Stormcloaks and Thalmor team up and kidnap Aela and Claudia and end up murdering Aela in front of Claudia and the Dragonborn after raping her. That was one of the major reason I warned that this story would be dark and can trigger someone. However, I dont know if I was gonna show that or not. Obviously Claudia would forget this happening from being traumatized. Another point I would make in this story was the fact that the Dragonborn was really similar to Ahmes before his fall. This would be an attempt to blur the lines between good and evil and give some humanity to the Hunt. I was even gonna name the Dragonborn Armeth, a name really similar to Ahmes, on purpose just to soldify that point, but I wasnt entirely sure if I wanted to do that because it should be a name that is never mentioned. Since the player chooses the Dragonborns name in their play through (even though there were some things i decided for the dragonborns decisions in the story like the Imperials winning, and some other world structure stuff that I cant remember). I wasnt sure who I was gonna make Ahmes end up with in the end, but I was kinda leaning twords Dorthe because she was the most fun to write and had the best development. One thing I was gonna do was have the right hand man of the Jarl of Dragonsreach, Nelkir (bastard son of the Jarl in the Skyrim game) come in later i nthe story somehow and make Ahmes interact with him because Ahmes looked up to him. However, I would make him the exact opposite of what Ahmes expected and to make him kinda a dick. This would shatter the image of this bastard rising through the ranks to be this noble, great knight into a douche to make Ahmes grow as a character and to show that idols usually arent what we imagine them to be. The addition of Yunos was kinda last minute, but I kinda liked the idea of someone that knew Ahmes before see Ahmes change to become the very thing he swore to kill (The Hunt). Eventually in this part of the story where i left off, the group would work with Yunos to find out a conspiracy that the lady Black-Briar would be in a incest relationship with her son. This is because in the game she refers one of her sons, Hemming, as the father of her other two children even though she is his mother. This is most likely becuase he was originally designed to be the father in the game, but they changed him to be the eldest brother and forgot to change some lines of dialogue. At the same time, rapes and murders of women happen every other night in Riften, which is a subplot that is put on the wayside until the last second when everything about the conspiracy is settled. The murderer/rapist wasnt decided yet, but I decided what would happen would be that one of the girls (Dorthe or Claudia) would almost be kidnapped to be traped and murdered by the criminal until at teh last minute, Ahmes saves them. But the murderer drags the girl to the room where he sends many of his victims. Ahmes would stumble upon this room and would see blood and body parts all over the walls and floors. He sees this and realizes what was about to happen to his friend while imagining the final moments of one of the victims screaming for their father. (In my head the song that plays when Gon from Hunter x Hunter transforms plays in the background to set the mood) This will cause Ahmes to go berserk and make him completely annihilate the criminal into a pile of ash and bloody organs. This would be the first step of Ahmes becoming like the Hunt (who he often uses inspiration to get stronger btw). In the end of the story, Ahmes will somehow become as strong as the Hunt and they fight one v one during this huge battle in the Thalmor v Skyrim war. The Hunt wouldnt be on either side, and would just show up to kill as many people as possible. Their fight would flash back to their memories and show how both of them got to where they were, both had slowly become berserkers in their stories while Ahmes never let his anger completely define him while the Hunt did. Ahmes will barely beat the Hunt and the story ends there. One thing I would make happen was the sword that Yunos has (Bloodskal Blade) would be passed to Ahmes and the Hunt would recognize the sword as his own from a brief period of his life. Obviously, the bloodskal blade and Ahmes' affinity for magic would help him bridge the gap of skill between him and the Hunt. One thing I wasnt sure I wanted to happen was to make Ahmes fight alongside a female commander during the Thalmor War, or second great war, (which would start in the story at one point) where they eventually fall in love after being stranded in an island or something. Then after that the lady commander would die in battle and she would give him something and he would access ice magic (similar to when he got fire from Lars). I wouldve based the commander off of Esdeath from Akame ga kill and Ahmes would be the Tatsumi to her Esdeath, except he would love her back unlike Tatsumi. The one thing that would make him not love her back immediately would be her cruelness to the enemy and somewhat sadistic nature. However, I wasnt sure I wanted to do that. As the story progresses, Ahmes would become stronger and stronger from each tragedy in his life. Each tragedy would mold him into the formidable warrior that could beat the Hunt regardless of the fact the Hunt is an OP version of the Dragonborn through experience. One signature move of the Hunt was his mist, that mist was made from a shout, similar to Alduin's mist in the Skyrim game. This is to show the Hunt's mysterious nature and the fact that he is alot like Alduin at that point. If you notice, Ahmes has a knack to learn magic out of nowhere, this is to support Ahmes' hard work to focus on gaining knowledge growing up, and his tenacity to become stronger through self loss. Dorthe and Frodnar werent supposed to be such a big part of the story as they were now, but that was due to the fact I loved writing Dorthe's character. She was just fun to write. Anyways, that is all I can think of for now on what I was going to make that story become. If there was any questions you had about the story or anythin you would like to discuss, whether it be about using my story as a jumping board or asking me to continue the story to the end regardless of me spoiling it for you, please dont hesitate to message me if you can. Thanks for watching.


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